Through the Timestream
by Romans-154
Summary: In an attempt to save his fireteam, Titan Guardian Callixtus sacrifices himself to defeat Atheon but a desperate timestream opens, throwing him deep in the past, far past the Golden Age, and into a holy alien city called High Charity. Not all is right with the Past, and as the Great War rages on, time warps around them and new yet old enemies and allies will soon arise.
1. Prologue

It was painless as it was before, nothing necessarily new to him. As he fell, he saw the panicked stance the other soldier held before his composure was regained and then he was running towards the fallen one. Then it appeared, hovering above his breathless, lifeless body, small diamond-like body preventing the others from reaching his corpse as he passed off into peaceful oblivion.

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><p><em>Waking in the Other side was always unnerving, no matter how many times he had gone through it. He pushed himself off the ground where his body would be laying, walking around the still forms of those frozen in time as they still lived. Looking over where it would be, there instead was a small sparkle of Light pointing to a trail that led through the caves behind his enemies.<em>

_With practised ease, he climbed over and around the rocks, being careful not to touch those who had not passed into the Other._

_As he strolled through the caves, he looked around at the sprouting, glowing nature. Vines protruding from the walls and trees usually dead in the real world bloomed profusely with silver and gold leaves. The cliffs and rocks sparkled underneath the azure-silver sun cast upon them, the crystals chiming in the air softly. Not all was right, however, these sights he was indeed used to but he felt the presence of another, someone else in the Other; looking around cautiously, his eyes fell upon a humanoid form on a distant cliff, watching him intently. He couldn't tell who or what it was but he did know that they didn't belong; as soon as he spotted it, however, he blinked and it was gone. A frown fell upon his face as he continued along the sparkled path, was someone intruding in his version of the Other? It would have to be a matter to discussed later._

_He walked underneath colourful flowers that sang happy greetings and through the shadows they cast, words scrawled upon the ground, dark words that he dared not to utter. And once he reached the edge of the path, he dived into the Shores of Time and swam down, deep, deep down towards the bottom where it shone, never reaching the point where he was gasping for breath; reaching out, his hand broke through the surface and his whole world tilted, throwing him out of the Shores._

_The water receded from his body, crawling back to the Shores as he got to his feet and looked around, immediately, he recognised the Black Garden, devoid of Vex and in all of its untimely, displaced glory but as he walked through the Gate leading to the Black Heart, he, instead, walked into the final resting place of Atheon. The Time's Conflux. He looked at the empty Timegates and the empty halls leading to nowhere, and at the empty plates. The only thing that wasn't empty was the centre of the Conflux._

_Peeking out of the ground, on a single, strong stem, sat a black flower in the shape of his Ghost. A single yellow stripe ran horizontally down it and the Light glowed softly from the middle, travelling through the stem and giving it small pulses every now and then._

_This was not new, this was something he was used to, having done it twice before. He would pluck the flower from its delicate stem and then he would return to the living, leaving the Other behind once more._

_What was new was what stood behind it. With its left appendage raised to the skies of the Vault and its gaze fixated on him, there stood Atheon. It's body glowed but the Light it had was in stark contrast to the Light that the Ghost flower carried, it was dim._

_Hesitantly, he stepped forward, reaching out for the Ghost flower but jumped back when Atheon moved, stepping in front of the flower with a low rumble, its parts emitting a low whine and he stepped back once more, keeping a respectable and cautious distance from the Vex Ultra._

_"We are connected, you and I," it uttered, voice echoing violently around the hollow area. It was undefined and came from everywhere yet nowhere at once. "The Time's Conflux does not come without a price, creature of the Light. I am lost in time and you are lost in history. I exist only within your mind for you have sought my power and wretched it from my grasp."_

_"I only sought to end the Vault and all who dwell within." His voice was muted and not the grand comparison to the Vex before him. "You nearly took the lives of my comrades. You took the lives of Guardians."_

_"They are forever lost to the dark corners of space and time, they have not perished. A consequence for ill-preparedness and attempting to disturb the Conflux."_

_"There are worse things than dying."_

_"You and I both know what these 'worses' are."_

_"What do you want?" Atheon turned its head towards one of the empty Gates before looking back at his face, the glow almost significantly getting brighter at the question._

_"We are at an impasse, Guardian. You wish to be resurrected and I want my power. I have been infected with your Light and you have been burdened with the Time's Conflux and my Darkness. I know what you are, Guardian, I have delved into your mind as you wander. You are dying. The imbalance is killing you. Every time you use the Conflux, the Darkness weakens you."_

_"Are you offering to prevent this?"_

_"When you die of the growing Darkness, you will die permanently. I do not care for this. However, when you do die, you will take the Conflux with you. You will kill my power."_

_"Sounds like a good plan."_

_"I am a creature of Time, Guardian, and I have seen your possible futures. Should you die, they will not extend into your Golden Age you so covet."_

_"How do I know you're not lying?"_

_"Let me guide you. Turn the Conflux into a Weapon of Light."_

_"Right, because I need the one being that threw me here in the first place to save me from a terminal illness."_

_"You will command entire armies of the Vex!"_

_"Step aside." He sidestepped the Vex and towards the Ghost flower yet his way was once more barred by the giant synthetic-organic._

_"You will not defy me!" He glared up at the Vex, the area darkening significantly in answer to his equally darkening emotion._

_"I could turn the Conflux into a Weapon of Light myself, I do not need your assistance ," he growled in a scathingly low voice. "I do not confer to Vex with god complexes. The Golden Age is a fixed point, nothing can prevent it and Humanity's ascension, not even you. Not me."_

_Drawing up his chest and holding his head high as he fixated the Vex with an irritated and threatening gaze, he continued in a soft, dangerous voice,_

_"If I see you here again, Traveler knows how you even got in here, no one will remember that you existed. I will erase you myself."_

_"You wouldn't dare-"_

_"I have nothing to lose." Atheon paused, seemingly contemplating his offer before it whirred._

_"I have given you an offer, Guardian, yet you refuse. So be it. You will die by the Darkness and I will be reborn once more, superiour to all."_

_"The grass will grow, birds will fly, air will blow, and the sun will shine. The Universe continues to rotate and no one gives a shit." He scowled and jumped around the Vex, plucking the flower._

_Upon leaving the stem, the flower let out a loud whine followed by the growing glow of Light; the sound clashed with the roar of Atheon as the Vex lunged forward only to be pushed back by pure force of Light._

_Just as he was about to step through the portal the Light had formed, a yell made him take pause and he turned hesitantly to see something - no - someone running towards him and the Light. He didn't have time to register who it was as the Light pulled him in but the familiar voice rang out as a desperate cry,_

_"Callixtus, don't leave me here!"_

The Light launched him to his feet, reforming his body, and he smoothly leapt back into action, ignoring the cries of confusion and the cries of outrage from either side. It wasn't time yet. He wasn't going to let the Conflux kill him, he wouldn't let Atheon have the satisfaction of his death.

Rolling back and away from the barrage of plasma grenades, he felt his back come to contact with the super-soldier, the Master Chief.

"You died," it was more of a statement rather than a question and he nodded.

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><p><em>AN: Final time I'm going to rewrite this. No more rewritten prologues. This is also posted on AO3 under the same penname._

_As you've noticed, the name and summary changed. Editing is going on while simultaneously posting because it'll be a long time until this story is finished so I'm editing as I go._

_It's also official that this is part one of a series I'm starting called The Vault of History so stay tuned and hopefully tag along for a great ride._

_Thanks for reading._


	2. I

[Summary: Six entered the Vault of Glass and only five returned. One entered High Charity and yet two returned. One is unlike the many, and the many have yet to be one.]

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><p>Callixtus didn't know what to expect when he destroyed Atheon, when he was left behind and let the others run. A bright purple cell certainly wasn't at the top of the list, however, but it was a likely option and it was the option that Atheon's final timestream sent him to.<p>

At first, Callixtus swam in and out of consciousness, the colours swirling as his Ghost spoke within his mind, trying to coax him out of his haze of pain and weakness; he heard garbled voices, maybe even screaming and gunfire at one point, he can't remember, and then he snapped awake with a gasp and a dizzying rush of blood straight to his head before he sat up abruptly. He blinked slowly, peering around the area in momentary confusion before looking at himself for any injuries, satisfied that they were at a minimum of tiny cuts and bruises.

Thank the Traveler, whoever threw him into this cell hadn't figured out how to take his armour off although his hands were bound in front of him by some strange looking cuffs. Tugging at them lightly, he felt something heavy and invisible roll over and through him, causing him to shiver and mutter curses under his breath: it appeared there was a _minuscule _influence of the Darkness on his captors. Enough to be felt but not enough to cause any lasting damage on his being. Good.

_Ghost? _Callixtus prodded around in his own mind before coming across a presence that was not his own. _Ghost, where are we?_

_Unknown. _The Ghost replied almost immediately. _Sort of. I tried to take some scans of the nearby area, see if we could get a hint of where we are. Nothing but dust and echoes outside; I'm making the assumption we're on some kind of space station. Doesn't look like anything the Fallen or Cabal would have._

_Not a Fallen House? _The Titan drew himself to his feet, walking forward to inspect the lavender barrier that separated him from breaking free. Touching it, he stepped back in surprise when it wavered and allowed him to fully calculate what the material was. _I didn't know plasma barriers were still used, aren't they obsolete?_

_Yes. _Ghost hummed in thought. _Either we're coming across some pioneers that escaped and hid themselves in deep space or...hm, I don't know about that 'or'._

_Well, we need to get out. I don't like this, it's too- _the Guardian was cut short with a verbal yell when a furry humanoid slammed itself in front of his cell with a roar. He jumped back, crouching low and reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. The humanoid alien let out a bellow, its teeth snarling and gnashing as beady black eyes stared at his visor. They stared at each other for several tense minutes before the alien turned away and barked something in a garbled language; soon, shouting and growling started up as another alien (who looked remarkably similar to the other alien) appeared, dragging a small creature behind it. Opening the cell quickly, the first alien grabbed the creature harshly by what looked to be a neck and threw it into the cell and closed it before Callixtus could lunge forward and escape.

The two alien comrades then spat at the cell before laughing in their guttural voices and storming away, leaving Callixtus to move to one end of the cell and crouch low, watching the other creature with a curious but deadly gaze. It was covered in brown armour, a mere coughing lump, but when it got on all fours and then to its feet, Callixtus saw that it was in fact _human_. Granted, a comparably small one to the Human Guardians but _human _nonetheless.

The Human was probably scraping 6'1 in the least and was a male with tawny brown eyes and rather dark skin; he dressed in poor combat gear, armour that looked like it belong in the pre-Golden Age era. No wonder he had been caught by those..._brutes_.

The Human had turned to him, staring at him with caution but also curiosity and an almost _friendly _look. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak but all that tumbled out were more garbled words although noticeably smoother than those of the aliens. Still, it made no sense, sounding more like as if he were attempting to sing yet couldn't produce a song to save his life. This left Callixtus furrowing his brow and tilting his head as if he could listen to it better, trying to make.

_Ghost, what in the world is that Human saying? _The Titan thought as the Human made several gestures, continuing to speak in that garbled language of his.

_I...don't know. It sounds like a **very **ancient commontongue. _The little light replied, confusion evident as it worked to rearrange and decipher the language barrier they had slammed into. _Yes, the tongue this Human speaks in is one used long before the Golden Age. I've seen it before but ever since the Traveler arrived, I've only been updated with the recent dialects. I can piece some of it together but in order for me to fully translate, it's going to take some time._

_Alright, do what you can. I don't think I'll be able to stand this type of tongue any time soon._

_Maybe if I could find some kind of digital dictionary or... _Ghost mumbled, its presence fading as it went off deeper into the Guardian's mind to observe and translate in peace. Callixtus turned his attention back to the Human who had taken to sitting with his back against the wall, continuing to babble, seemingly unaware that the Guardian had long since stopped listening.

_Hey, _Ghost's presence was faint but there, _and while I'm doing this maybe you could, I dunno...work up some of your energy to do a jailbreak._

With that pointed out, Callixtus looked at the corner of his HUD where it displayed his supplies and sighed. It was slow going; with no Orbs and the slight hindrance of the unexpected sliver of Darkness, it would certainly be a while before a Super Energy was built up. For now, all he could do was sit back and stare longingly at the hall in front of him as the Human continued to talk in the background.

* * *

><p>"...and...as...I...as that...the...well...you...but..." Callixtus frowned when he slowly but surely woke from his unexpected slumber. That wasn't Ghost talking, his voice didn't sound as nasally or heavily accented as the one the Titan currently heard. Looking up, he saw that the Human was <em>still <em>talking even though Callixtus had dozed off an hour or so before.

So that voice was the Human's in the commontongue but it was like listening to a scrambled communication, only being able to pick out a word here and there. Looked like Ghost had already translated some words, albeit very common words. Great.

Looking at his charge, he felt a surge of excitement as he realised there was only a sliver of it to go and then he could test it out against the plasma barrier.

_You ready to go, Ghost__? _Callixtus asked as he got to his feet, startling the Human with his sudden movement.

_Whenever you are, Guardian. I've already located your weapons as well as other Humans, I can set a NavPoint once you get out. _The little light answered smoothly, its presence filling Callixtus with a familiar comfort. _I'll continue translating; I've discovered the most used words these Humans use, it should be easier once I get into the flow of things._

_Good. I can't stand hearing this broken conversation anymore. _All the Titan received was an amused hum as his HUD pinged with the notification that his Super Charge was ready.

"What's...on?" The Human asked, looking concerned. The Guardian simply guided the other to the far end of the cell, motioning for him to stay put before turning to the purple plasma barrier. "What are you...?"

Callixtus didn't bother to explain as he inspected the barrier from afar; he didn't exactly have a whole lot of jumping room but that could compensate with how _far _he could jump. A good shock would do.

Making sure his back was touching the wall, Callixtus let the Light gather beneath his feet, transforming into Arc energy before he sprang forward, hands clasped together into a giant fist as the energy spiraled and crackled around him, snapping at the air before he crashed against the barrier. The energy surged forward into a powerful wave, tearing down the barrier, across the hall, and into the next cell.

Klaxon-esque alarms blared as Callixtus turned towards the stunned Human and dragged him out of the cell and down the hall. They didn't make it far when they finally ran into one of the brutish aliens standing guard. With a roar, the alien charged as Callixtus pushed the Human out of the way before lowering his shoulder and sprinted towards the raging beast. At the last second, the Titan called forward a burst of Arc energy and threw his spiked shoulder into the brute, caving in the light armour, coating his shoulder in crimson blood, and tossing it aside with ease.

Once more, Callixtus turned and grabbed the shocked Human, who was stuttering and pointing incoherently, and dragged him down the hall towards Ghost's NavPoint, revealing some type of room used to store the prisoners' items. He let the Human go as soon as he saw his weapons laying flat on a table; he holstered Hawkmoon and Syzygy, favouring the Crusader I for now. He allowed Ghost to gain control of Praedyth's Revenge and Murmur as he took control of the Invective; his machine gun chirped a cheery greeting as he picked it up along with an old FWC rocket launcher he'd never been able to let go of, not that he was particularly fond of the faction itself.

Satisfied that he was armed up once more, he turned to the Human to find him standing ready with a strange purple weapon that had pink crystals sticking out of it, the weapon itself having been grabbed from a nearby weapons' rack. The Titan smirked, that weapon was nearly as big as the Human's torso.

_By the Traveler's Light! _Ghost exclaimed, its presence a thunderous hurricane as it overwhelmed Callixtus with its own excitement. _The last time I saw that weapon was during an antique showing displayed in front of the Traveler! What is it doing here?!_

_There are several more displayed on that weapons rack over there, Ghost, what do you mean 'antique'? _Callixtus questioned as he gestured for the Human to follow him, slowly creeping out of the room and outside of the brig. The door opened automatically as soon as Callixtus approached it and he was met, face-to-face, with yet another new alien. It was bird-like and skinny and hunched, wielding a circular shield that was clipped at the edges on the left and right on its left arm and carried a black weapon with a glowing green tip; the creature squawked in surprise but didn't have time to fire its weapon since Callixtus decided to greet it by detaching its skull. Irritatingly enough, there were several more of those birds waiting and Callixtus barely had enough time to dive out of the way, growling when green energy washed over his shield.

Pulling out the Crusader I, the Titan made quick work of two of the birds as the Human stuck enough of the crystals into another that the damnable thing actually _exploded _into a cloud of pink and blood and guts.

_Make sure to pick up some of those crystals if you ever find another one of those. _Ghost quipped. _They'd have a field day with that thing back at the Tower._

_I'm not going to lug around dangerous, explosive crystals. _Callixtus retorted as he and the Human sprinted through the halls and into a large circular room. The Titan speculated this was the rest of the brig as it went several floors down and up; an island stood at the centre of each floor, held up by three bridges with a beam in the middle of it. He walked into one of the other rooms, easily dispatching the birds and strange little grunty creatures with packs as the Human looked through the controls. The cells shut down and four more Humans joined them, grabbing various weapons from the corpses around them.

_Yet you hold an absurd amount of grenades and elementally dangerous weapons._

_Shut up._

The two mentally bickered as he and the Humans ran around the area, gathering more and more Humans that were unfortunate enough to get captured by the violent faction of aliens. By the time they left the last cell, Callixtus counted at least fifteen Humans with him, varying in size and appearance but all wearing the same armour and seemingly familiar with each other.

_Alright, area's clear, guess we should look for a way out of here now_. Ghost suggested as Callixtus climbed into the strange elevating beam. Heading straight up and out of the brig, the Titan landed in a huge empty room with only one door leading out of it. Cautiously approaching it, he watched as it slid open and the sound of gunfire, plasma, and the dying met his ears. Someone was up here. Or maybe it was those jawless Vandals again, they appeared to be against the others and he had run across several of their battles.

But the aliens used plasma-based weapons so the sound of gunfire threw him in a loop. He supposed it also threw him into the attacker; he had walked out into the area, the Humans splitting off to see if they could find an exit elsewhere, powerful in that group of theirs, and taken down several of the bird creatures and Vandals when he turned the corner and ran headlong into a green armoured Titan. He stumbled back momentarily before bringing out the Invective and aiming it at the other, gauging the other's reaction.

Apparently the other Titan (who, in fact, didn't look like a Titan whatsoever) had the same idea and was currently point their own rendition of a shotgun at him. They stared each other down until Callixtus saw the familiar shimmer in the air, signifying an invisible figure. He lunged around the Titan figure just as the Titan rolled around him and both fired their shotguns into the chests of the approaching Vandals.

Callixtus peered warily over his shoulder and, once more, met the gaze of the golden visor, nodding in time with the other. A temporary alliance.

_Who is that? _Ghost wondered softly.

_Not a Titan. _Callixtus reassured as he reloaded the Invective and fell into step with the armoured Human. _He is familiar though. Do you suppose he was another one lost within the Vault?_

_A possibility. Wait. _Callixtus paused, prompting the other to turn and stare at him. _I'm detecting another Ghost except it's not a Ghost. They're trying to integrate into my system._

_A Warmind then? _The Titan wondered, frowning as he continued walking, the other falling into step once more next to him. _What're they trying to do?_

_Gain access to my systems. It's...no wait, **she's **practically throwing **questions **at me. Her code is originating from that Human's suit. I'll attempt to counteract by integrating with her code._

_Good luck with that. _Ghost's presence disappeared once more as Callixtus and the Human engaged with the ape aliens and its squad of birds and grunt-like creatures. It wasn't difficult and the firefight lasted only several minutes, ending with the Human curb-stomping two of the birds and Callixtus Shoulder-Charging the lightly armoured ape.

_Alright, I'm back. _Ghost chirped, strangely satisfied and pleased with himself. _Her name's Cortana, she's something called an AI, Artificial Intelligence. Kind of like Rasputin except she isn't a Warmind. She's an ancient model, however, so it was easy to bypass her encryptions and firewalls...I am beginning to question where we are though. Her models went extinct shortly after the Great Ascension, the time before the Golden Age. We need to get out of here before I draw a conclusion, however._

_Looks like we're almost there. _Callixtus reassured as they exited the halls and came onto a giant landing that revealed a giant ship in the distance, elegantly designed. Across the landing were spores of some kind along with a strange-looking alien, a bulbous creature sucking at its neck. _We might be able to get answers from here._

_I think we just got them. _Ghost whispered as they approached the alien, the Human kneeling down and ripping the bulb from its neck. _We all know what that is. The Traveler told stories of them once before. Those...parasites. The Grave Plague._

_But if the Plague still exists. If it's here... _The Titan trailed off as he stared at the ship, glaring at its design as the alien spoke, its words meaning nothing to him as he couldn't understand it. Everything else became faint and muted as Callixtus stared at the spores, at the ship, and at the dying city around them. It hit him as if he were being resurrected again: he was out of breath, disoriented, and frightened. He was where no Guardian should be.

_This is the Great War._

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><p><em>AN: Questions? Comments? Critiques? Feel free to leave a review or PM me._

_Thanks for reading._


	3. II

**[**A/N:_ In response to a very welcomed and appreciated review, most of what I've explained in the first chapter is more so to have questions and suggestions such as yours to come around: theories or ideas, opinions. All my theories and my shaping of bringing Destiny and Halo together are all laid out, meaning that the story is, essentially, finished; now, I need to write the actual stories and perhaps tweak it a bit. This means that by gaining a review such as yours, I may, perhaps add a little bit of your suggestions or theories here and there._

_But, back to the topic on hand, as you know, when the Traveler arrived, technology and living flourished. Yes, this will be incorporated but you also know, when the Darkness attacked, many things (schematics, ideas, information, etc.) were lost and are currently being recovered. Yes, the Guardians should be using plasma and hardlight weapons/technology/etc. but with the data lost and the Traveler (in my opinion) gone dark, it's gotten to the point where it's nearly impossible to find engrams and schematics containing these plans, the improbability of discovering these engrams will be explained in future chapters. All I **can **say is that the remnants of this technology is used within the Guardians' abilities to manipulate Arc, Solar, and Void energies at will._

_With the Vex crawling around and turning everything into machine planets and the Hive infesting what they haven't taken, well, let's just say that the Darkness plays a key role in this upcoming story and explains as to why I put Destiny after the events of Halo._

_All of these questions spawned are what will be answered in the future, there are many things I cannot give out unless I wish to spoil my own story and plots. As such, it is purposely confusing and drawing out questions so you can anticipate for what I have in store. What I can say is that I will definitely, in the future, be bridging the gap as to what happened to the evolved humans, how the Forerunners became such a dark position (and how it all ties in with the Awoken in general), the coming of the Darkness (and perhaps a "preemptive attack"), what happened to the rest of the Covenant races, and the Traveler's "people" (who are indefinitely of Precursor make, yes, you have that correct)._

_What I'm currently doing now is setting up the plot. To grab you._

_As such, it seems that I have. Or I hope that I have. I eagerly await for the series of questions you have in the future and I hope that, in these next several chapters as we revisit a beloved series in a new way, your previous questions will be answered. Later, on my file, I'll put up what I've got so far on the time between **Halo **and **Destiny **and occurrences/theories in between it all._

_Anyways, I welcome you to the third chapter._**]**

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><p><em>You've got to be kidding. Even in the past, the Darkness follows us. <em>Ghost muttered as Callixtus strode forward, nudging a spore cautiously, shivering as he felt the presence of the Darkness, before jumping onto the bulb it spawned. _And t__hese are the people who took up the Mantle? Who the Traveler would save? An early type of Human? I..._

_You what? These are my **ancestors**, I think. _Callixtus replied as he stomped on another one of the bulbous creatures, ignoring the conversation the armoured Human and his AI were having. _It explains the language barrier and who knows? Maybe you can have a grand history lesson and learn about all that pre-Golden Age stuff the Traveler didn't tell you._

_The Traveler told me a lot about the past, mind you. _The Ghost retorted. _Now, I just need to see if it's all true..._

_Why would the Traveler lie to you in the first place? What's there to gain from the past?_

_GUARDIAN! Are you really asking such a question?! Remember, you're **from **the past! _It scolded, a wave of anger momentarily flowing through his mind; the emotion, however, eventually died down into a sense of uncertainty. _I must say though, that I do have my...doubts. Especially about a particular one. The one who initially upheld the Mantle. I think his name was the Mas-_

The Human called to the Guardian, saying something along the lines of, "You're - with me!" As soon as he said that, a loud shriek pierced the air and the two men watched as an aircraft flew in the shape of a fireball onto the landing platform several yards away. From where he stood, Callixtus could see spores crawling over the craft, feeling the Darkness radiate from it as the infected rushed off, shrieking and flailing about. As the two soldiers approached it, the Human grabbed a silver rod from his hip and activated it; a loud hiss radiated from it and two prongs of light appeared, Arc energy crackling between them. When the first infected came towards them, the Human lunged forward and sliced the monstrosity clean in half, rendering it unusable for the walking spores.

_I'll tell you later, go help the Human! _Ghost demanded and Callixtus launched into action without a second thought, once again shoulder-charging into one of the infected and slamming a heavy boot into the chest of another, both beasts collapsing into an unrecognizable heap. Turning, he fired Invective at several of the creatures that began shrieking and charging wildly at the Human, grunting in approval as they fell down in flames and ash.

_To be honest, I don't think he really needs help. _Callixtus speculated as he fell into step behind the Human, looking over the sage armour curiously. _Interesting armour though, I'll give him that._

_It's subpar._

_It's interesting. Stop berating him._

_He can't hear me._

_The Traveler can't hear me but I don't insult it._

_That's because that's the Traveler._

_I'll throw you at him._

_**Don't**. _A low chuckle met the Ghost, low enough so the Human didn't hear it although the hum vibrated throughout Callixtus's body. _And pay attention. You'll do us no good wandering around as if you were a chicken that lost its head._

_As if I was a what that lost its what?_

_It's a old Human saying. Follow the Human._

Callixtus followed quietly, they went down a different hall, heading for the ship that Ghost and the AI Cortana had pointed out earlier; as they delved deeper into the lost space city, the spores of the Plague became more evident and so too did the presence of the Darkness. It was a familiar feeling of loneliness and the coldest of the cold; if he concentrated hard enough, he was sure he could hear _them_. The Hive. The Vex. _Atheon and Crota._

But as soon as he tried to think about it, they left in a flurry, leaving only faint whispers that also faded back into the spores from whence they came. It was something Callixtus was used, pushing forward as the Darkness swirled and reached out towards him, only to shrink away from the Light in which he was born from. The Human didn't appear to be perturbed by the spores, perhaps a bit of disgust appeared but nonetheless, he didn't display anything beyond that.

It seemed that the Darkness didn't reach out to these Humans.

The Human was a tank in the loosest sense of the word; he stampeded through the enemies, the Plague and aliens alike, blowing them away with his shotgun or slicing them with his unusual two-pronged Arc blade, occasionally stooping to pick up ammo or a new blade; he carved his way through the river of enemies in a way only Callixtus had seen in his comrades, with grace yet brute force.

Effortlessly, the Guardian managed to weave his way into the Human's pattern and the two swirled and barged their way through the halls of the once beautiful space city as if they had lived there themselves. A silent hurricane.

At one point, Callixtus became curious (his best trait) and picked up the hilt of the Arc blade he had seen the Human use frequently to cut down the Plague with ease. Swinging the dead hilt, the blade sparked to life, the Arc energy crackling against the prongs and his shield and he stared it in admiration, even garnering a whistle of approval from Ghost before he sheathed it on his hip. He'd definitely use this later.

They continued on, unchallenged, the infection of the Plague becoming thicker, attacks from both enemies more erratic and panicked. The deeper they delved, the more aggressive the Plague and the aliens got yet both warriors stood against them, unfazed, until they reached a particularly dark, cave-like system absolutely corrupted with the Plague. As he and the Human walked by a particularly huge spore, the Titan felt a wave of fear wash over him.

It wasn't natural so the Guardian assumed this fear was from his mental companion.

_Ghost? What's wrong? _He asked softly, taking a calm approach mentally as he brutally kicked in an infected's chest and punched the bulbous spore out of another.

_The Darkness. The Plague. I can **hear **them. _The Ghost shuddered. _Some of these infected are old. Ancient. They're talking to me, they know about the Traveler. Some of them are saying they created it. Seekers. They called the Traveler a Seeker. Whenever they talk, Callixtus, I can see into their minds. They're opening it up to me and I want to look but I'm scared of the answers. Oh, by the Traveler, Guardian, please, can we leave?_

_We're leaving, don't worry. _Callixtus reassured, beginning to inch his way through the fray and to the opposite end of the cave-like structure. The Human seemed to get his unspoken message and soon joined him, the both of them sweeping the Plague aside as they continued their trek to the ship although the sage-armoured warrior seemed rather reluctant to leave so many enemies alive. If it weren't for his Ghost's...troubling dilemma, Callixtus was certain that he, too, would've stayed and made sure every single hostile thing in that area had given the cave a new coat of colour. It would've been beautiful.

As they stepped out of the area and into another hallway, Callixtus twitched when he heard the distant shrieking of the Plague; it sounded as if it were angry and in pain, having missed its targets and it set Chill's hand trailing down his spine eerily. He slowed to a jog and watched as the Human dropped his shotgun in favour of...a damn rocket launcher. How a Human-made weapon got this deep into the space city was beyond the Guardian and he was certainly satisfied that the Plague wasn't wielding the deadly weapon.

However, he eyed the Human warily for a moment as they entered a large chamber where they stepped up to a podium that held one of those fully-charged Arc blade. The Human's visor met Callixtus's and he gestured towards it, an offering and so the Guardian complied happily, dropping his nearly depleted one in favour of the good-as-new item. With a nod of approval, the Human turned and marched towards what looked like a lift; he stepped onto the pad and paused momentarily, noticing that Callixtus hadn't stepped on yet.

"You coming?" The Human called simply, his voice gravelly and rumbling throughout the area.

_Get on the device already, I'm fine. _Ghost snapped, having noticed the Guardian was poking around for him, mentally shoving the Titan forward. With a shrug, Callixtus stepped onto the lift, wholly surprised when he was suddenly lifted through an orchid tube, multiple floors of the city racing past him as he soared to the top of the landing to where the ship lay.

Landing at the top of the pad, Callixtus looked around at the chaos momentarily before jumping into the fray with the Human as they fought their way to where the conduit stood, leading to the ship with an eerie teal glow. The Human's AI, Cortana, stood on a holotank, waiting for them patiently. She called out something but the translator couldn't work quickly enough but her voice was urgent, urging them on. As they went onto the final pad, the Human stopped momentarily, staring at the AI, almost as if he wanted to take her with them but she shook her head, saying,

"I'll be fine, Chief, go! And take this guy with you, he's helpful!" The Human, Chief, nodded obediently, looking over his shoulder at Callixtus, who had joined him on the pad and was watching curiously, before the both of them were lifted into the conduit. They sped at impossible speeds, the world swirling around them as they launched into the ship just as it closed; they slid around momentarily looking for purchase before they crashed into the walls. The Human got up abruptly, staring at the closed door, saying,

"When I'm - with Truth, I'll-" he was cut off and, over the sound of the ship launching, the Guardian heard Cortana say sadly but teasingly,

"_Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it._" There was a pause as the ship left the space city. "_Good luck, you two._" The ship shuddered momentarily and suddenly, the overwhelming presence of the Darkness and the chaos disappeared.

_We just went through a warpstream. _Ghost reported, his presence filling Callixtus's mind once more. _I don't know where we're going though._

_Are you okay?_

_Are you kidding? We're never okay._

_Ghost._

_...I looked into it. I couldn't help myself, Guardian, I looked into the Darkness's mind and I saw it._

_Saw **what**?_

_What the Plague is, what these Humans are, what this damn **ship **is for the Traveler's sake! This ship is of **Forerunner **make! _At that, Callixtus jolted upright from where he was sitting, startling the Human who crouched low, into a defensive position, weapons ready. _Wait, no! It's not the Forerunners you think of! It's not the Awoken! We've got them all misinterpreted! You remember the story before the Awoken, the **other **Forerunners?_

_The story about the Ur-Didact and how he went insane, right? He was a child of the Darkness, dragged the Forerunners down with him._

_Yes, that story! When I took a peek into the Darkness's mind, it gave me a glimpse into a distant past, when the Grave Plague began, how the Forerunners became corrupt. Apparently, the Grave Plague was something else, a different species even more powerful than the Forerunners. They were called the Precursors-_

_Atheon's Vex?_

_Yes and no, would you let me continue?!_

_Right, sorry._

_Anyways, these Precursors apparently created the Forerunners and yet regarded Humanity above all else; they were the ones that originally wished for the Humans to uphold the Mantle, to become who we were during the Golden Age. But there was a war between them and the Forerunners and some of these Precursors tried to save themselves by turning into dust._

_What._

_"I know, it's kind of...impulsive? Strange? But before they turned to dust, they created one of their last, greatest inventions: the Seekers. There were thirteen of them overall, created to continuously catalog the expanding Universe. The Traveler was one of them but I'm getting ahead of myself. Over the years, the dust that was, is the Precursors was eventually found by the Darkness. When it touched them, they became corrupt and when they tried to rebuild themselves into what they were, they turned into abominations. The Grave Plague._

_The Darkness corrupted them so badly that, even though they left the Humans alone, they went on to annihilate the Forerunners, believing them to have betrayed the Precursors since they took up the Mantle of Responsibility. The Plague, as revenge and under the influence of the Darkness then spoke to one of these Forerunners: the Ur-Didact. By talking to him, he opened up his mind, left himself vulnerable and soon, the Darkness too touched him. And he lost it. See? That's where we lose sight of the truth; the Ur-Didact wasn't born from the Darkness, he was **influenced **by the Darkness! And because of that, he let the Plague spread and created an army from the minds of Humans and so the Arrays were created, the Arrays that wiped all of life._

_The Mantle was too much; they assumed so much power that they thought themselves untouchable from the Darkness. This is why the Mantle is for the Humans! This is why we're here!"_

_We're here to what?_

_The Humans we work with now, they're pre-Mantle, they're pre-Patriarchs. That Human you're working with? The one staring at you right now-_

_That's kind of creepy._

_-do you know who he is?_

_Am I supposed to know?_

_That's the **Master Chief**, the first upholder of the Mantle of Responsibility and the leader of all Patriarchs. _As the Ghost said this, the ship shuddered and all they could hear was the sound of muted battle from outside. The Human, now identified fully as the Master Chief, turned away momentarily, saying,

"This is - one-one-seven. Does anyone hear me, over?" Callixtus watched with his natural curiosity taking over, getting to his feet as he reached for his Invective, staring at the entrance of the ship. The new wave of information was too much to take in at once and now, now he was being thrust into a war that, just a few days ago, was merely stories that the older Guardians told.

"Sir, finishing this fight," the Master Chief replied firmly as the ship shuddered once more, the insides of it suddenly heating up.

_We're entering the atmosphere, you might want to brace yourself. _Ghost warned. _Maybe get ready to pop that shield of yours, it might work._

Callixtus grinned underneath his helmet as he holstered his weapon, Void energy crackling around him.

What's a little crash to a Guardian? Even if he didn't survive, Ghost could simply revive him.

_Traveler's sake, this is **Earth**! I hope you're ready, Guardian!_

* * *

><p><strong>[<strong>_A/N: Well, here is the second chapter. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. I know I'm updating pretty quickly but I'd like to get this story moving along before I return to school. When I go back, I'll be having finals and since it's school, updates will be significantly slower._

_Any questions, comments, or critiques are happily accepted. Don't be afraid to review._

_Thanks for reading._**]**


	4. III

**[**_A/N: For those of you curious, Callixtus's armor consists of Willbreaker's Fists and Greaves, Molniya Type 1, and the Helm of Saint-14. His shader is Chatterwhite, his mark is the Light of the Great Prism, and his emblem is the Sign of the Battleborn._

_And is that a quote from the Stranger I see in the reviews? Amazing._

_For the next several chapters, it'll just be going through the campaign. I don't want to jump ahead because it'll seem really sloppy and overall confusing. We should reach a change in plot around the Floodgate mission, maybe even earlier, depending on what happens. I'm currently replaying the **Halo 3 **campaign myself._

_I'll try to squeeze in what I can so we can get through this quickly._

_Enjoy._**]**

* * *

><p>"Looks like our friend has an AI for himself," Cortana had commented. "Kind of an unusual little guy though. Strange algorithms. Look vaguely...alien, not Covenant alien but so <em>basic <em>it's actually complex." She had gone silent for a moment as John studied the other soldier; he wasn't a Spartan, his armour was too elegant yet mismatched as if he scrounged them all together from scraps. The shotgun wasn't of any model the Spartan had seen either, elaborate and glowing orange and fired on an automatic setting with fiery shells. He'd never seen any kind of modifications that allowed the shells to ignite into literal flaming rounds.

"This AI was kind...enough. Says his name is Ghost and that the guy carrying him around is his Guardian. Human. Not much of a talker, told me that much, let me tell him my name and then left. I think 'disappeared' is a better word though, I can't find him anymore." John had frowned, turning his head to indicate that, yes, the soldier - Guardian - had still been walking next to him so that meant that Cortana could easily detect the other AI.

"I'll do what I can before you guys leave. It's kind of hard though, the second I crack into one of his equations, a new one pops up, more strange and foreign. Whoever made him knows what's up. I love a good challenge." She had been gone for only a few minutes, long enough for John and the Guardian to get engaged in a small bit of combat with two Brutes; as soon as John had crushed his opponent's windpipe, a small whir filled his helmet which turned into a chirp. It had taken John several moments to realize that it wasn't in his helmet but rather in his _mind_.

_Get **out**. _A low voice had growled, it sounded slightly synthesized although it was clearly male, and was interrupted by bouts of chirps and beeps.

"Upset that I cracked your code?" Cortana had asked smugly, clearly proud of herself.

_Not really. I don't want to go through a whole mind-melding ordeal. Last time that happened, both participants died. Get out._

"You're in his _mind_?"

_Well, aren't you in **his**? Shouldn't seem all that surprising._

A small chirp had sounded as the voice, Ghost, John identified it as now, muttered to itself.

_Ghost? _Another voice eventually joined in, even lower than the mentioned AI's and gravelly. _Traveler's sake, what are you doing?_

_NOTHING. _And the presence had promptly disappeared, Cortana chasing after it for a moment.

"Damn, I lost it again! He's a sneaky little guy and I'm guessing that other one who joined us was the Guardian. That's interesting though, it seems whoever they are, wherever they're from, they've achieved some kind of form of telepathy. Maybe they use neural physics or some kind of neural sciences...hey, Chief?" The Spartan had made a grunt of acknowledgement as he bashed in the skulls of several Grunts.

"When you get out of here, could you try interacting with that soldier? Guardian? There's something off about him and seeing how he's a brute-force, 'I-can-kick-everyone's-skull-in' kinda guy, I think you guys would hit it off perfectly. 'sides, I don't think he's a local. When Ghost came a-knockin' and he came searching, I could peak into his head for a few seconds. Here, I'll upload what I could capture into the data chip since I don't need it for now. View it whenever possible, this guy's kind of _off_."

"Understood," the Spartan eventually muttered.

* * *

><p>John's wakening was sudden and he found himself staring at a canopy of trees, the sun filtering between the space between the leaves. He stared at them, gathering himself for the moment when Johnson's voice broker his reverie,<p>

"We're not leaving him here." The Spartan's eyes flicked over to the Marine's outstretched hand, recognizing Cortana's chip; reaching up, he grabbed the man's wrist and hauled himself to his feet all the while saying,

"Yeah, you're not." Johnson looked stunned for a moment, almost surprised that he was alive, before he frowned up at the taller man.

"Crazy fool," he scolded, punching the Spartan lightly on the chest, "why do you always _jump_? Some day, you're gonna land on somethin' as stubborn as you are an' I don't do bits an' pieces." John stared at him momentarily before looking down at his hand which still held the other man's wrist; gently, he pried Cortana's chip from Johnson's grip, studying it momentarily.

"Where is she, Chief?" Johnson asked softly. "Where's Cortana?"

It glowed eerily with that familiar navy-and-cerulean colour and, for a brief moment, the AI flashed across his vision, her voice echoing in his mind,

"_Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it._" Inserting the chip in the port at the back of his helmet, he looked back at Johnson and answered simply,

"She stayed behind." Johnson looked at him skeptically for a moment before looking at the Marine next to him, gesturing at the Spartan with his cigar, ordering,

"Corporal? Make it quick." The Marine jumped down from John's miniature crater, standing next to the other with a datapad in his hands, tapping into it furiously, saying apologetically,

"Sorry, sir. Your armour's still in partial lockdown; I'll need you to do some simple exercises for me." Standing back from the Spartan, the Marine led him through several looking exercises before tapping more data into his pad before looking at Johnson, clearing him and unlocking the rest of the equipment.

"Alright, kick off the training wheels, corporal, he's ready to go," Johnson said approvingly, puffing out several clouds of smoke. John waited patiently as the Marines discussed quietly, finishing off the reports and planning their next course of action. He twitched, however, when he saw the air shimmer behind the squad, and got ready to lunge at the blurry form when he saw something dart from behind the bushes.

He recognized it as the Guardian, who immediately jumped onto the Elite, stepping on the back of its legs as leverage before wrapping his arm around its neck, his entire form crackling with dark blue electricity. The Elite dropped its camouflage, revealing the one that John had met when encountering the Gravemind, the implusive, hyperactive, religious one.

Immediately, the squad sprang into action, pointing their rifles, not at the Elite, but at the Guardian. In the split second it took to register what was going on, John strode forward while stating loudly, firmly,

"Hold your fire! He's with me!" Just as quickly, Johnson retorted with a scowl,

"Well, tell your friend to step off. The Arbiter's with us!" This was met with a hidden glare from the Guardian, one that even John felt, before the man looked over at the Spartan as if waiting for confirmation, for orders.

"Don't kill him," John order gruffly and immediately, the Guardian let go of the Elite, stepping down with a growl in the alien's direction, receiving a snap in return before the Arbiter reported,

"We must go, the Brutes have our scent." Johnson strode forward as the Elite marched away, giving the Guardian a wide berth. The Marine eyed the strange soldier for a moment before grabbing an Assault Rifle from one of his men, saying as he held it out to John,

"Then they must love the smell of badass." He looked over at the Guardian, who already had his mysterious shotgun out, and asked as Johnson organized his squads,

"How'd you survive?" This was met with a mere shrug; if John was anyone else, he'd assume the Guardian was brushing the conversation aside, but as he wasn't 'anyone else' he read it as, _I wasn't supposed to but I did._

"First squad, you're my scouts. Move out! Nice and quiet," Johnson ordered. As several Marines ran ahead, Johnson jogged past, eyeing the Guardian warily, giving him the classic _I'm watching you_ sign before John moved ahead, nudging the Guardian along. He wouldn't admit it but he didn't exactly trust the soldier yet and what Cortana said about him was unnerving as was the brief conversation with the 'Ghost'; it'd be better if the Guardian was in front of him rather than behind.

It was bad enough that he was forced into a sudden truce with the Elites.

As they moved through the foliage, following a small river, John heard the distant whir of an approaching Phantom; he heard his comm. crackle and a scout pointed out with a hiss,

"Sergeant Major, Phantom inbound!" Almost immediately, everyone stopped, hiding behind bushes and rocks. The Arbiter used his camo module and the Guardian disappeared God-knows-where. They watched as it passed overhead before it disappeared behind the tall trees and they all left their places; the Arbiter reappeared and continued walking, his long strides easily matching the running limbs of the Marines and the Guardian seemingly melted into existence from his place in front of the rocks. How that bright white set of armour managed to hide like that was beyond John, probably some kind of chameleon effect it had.

The Spartan, Arbiter, and Guardian climbed a small plateau as Johnson and his squad proceeded to climb a miniature waterfall. Looking at the open clearing in front of them, John noted the excessive amount of Jackals and Grunts running about as well as how it was a Brute Captain leading them instead. It looked like they established the new leadership a whole lot more quickly than the others anticipated, then again, the Grunts and Jackals simply needed leaders and didn't give two shits as to who they followed so long as it involved shooting things that moved and eating said shot things and a majority (if not, all) of the Elites had fled with the Arbiter and his fleets.

Pulling out his magnum, John decided that taking out the Brute was a priority, reminiscing the fact that they tended to get pissed off pretty quickly. He looked over at the squad assembled, noting that they were all waiting for his move. Turning back, he fired a full mag in quick succession, pleased to see that the Brute's helmet popped off rather quickly. It, however, reacted rather quickly, removing the Brute Shot from its back and jumping down from the rock with a roar as the Grunts and Jackals turned, firing in their general direction.

A loud crack filled the air and the Brute _exploded _into a ball of violet energy that washed over several Grunts and Jackals, drawing squeals from the smaller creatures. Looking over his shoulder in surprise, the Spartan saw the Guardian wielding a long, dark brown sniper rifle, the barrel smoking; the Guardian stared at him momentarily before taking out his shotgun once more and jumping down into the chaos. A Marine whistled in appreciation as John jumped after him, remarking,

"_Daamn_, I'd kill anything for a piece like that." And it continued like that. They'd clear the area and a Phantom would occasionally drop by to give reinforcements for the already dead squad and the Brute would almost always _explode _from the power of the Guardian's rifle. He didn't use it often but when he did, it almost always surprised John as he watched his enemy disappear into a violent explosion of purple.

It was shortly after they rescued a Marine that _she _appeared again. They had entered a miniature cave system leading to a river that the Arbiter insisted they get to quickly. It was sudden and he blinked, her face momentarily blinding him, and he heard her voice again, echoing inside his mind, and he slowed down to a walk, unsure of what to do.

"_Could you sacrifice me to complete your mission? Could you watch me die?_"

_No_, he thought immediately. _Never_.

"Sir, are you okay?" The Marine asked, looking up at him with a tinge of concern. The Guardian and Arbiter seemed to be watching him carefully as well and he straightened up, the grip on his Battle Rifle tightening, as he replied firmly,

"I'm fine." And he marched ahead, knowing that they weren't, in the slightest bit, even convinced but they followed nonetheless.

"_Chief,_" Johnson's voice crackled over the comm., "_Pelicans are at the river. Hustle up!_" As they engaged the Covenant forces attacking the Pelicans, the pilot joined in, explaining,

"_Hold on, got a contact._" She was silent for a moment before she bellowed, "_Banshees! Fast an' low!_" As soon as she said this, the accursed vehicles flew through, their attached Fuel Rods exploding along the engines. _"I'm hit! Shit!_"

"_Get a hold of her!_" Johnson ordered harshly.

"_Negative, we're going down!_" John watched as the Pelican attempted to fly over the outcropping of rocks, instead, crashing into it and flipping head over tail into a different area, the explosion resounding throughout the entire jungle. After several moments of silence and getting around the abandoned building and heading towards a different end of the jungle, Johnson eventually came through on the comms.,

"_Chief, can you read? My bird's down, half a klick-_" The rest fizzed out into white noise before clicking off entirely. Entering the jungle once more, the Spartan, Guardian, and Arbiter readily engaged with Jackal Carbine snipers, the rounds merely flicking off of their shields as they gunned them down with ease, the lights on the bird-like creatures' heads marking them rather easily. As they came upon a rock outing, they saw Johnson and the remnants of his squad running across a miniature bridge, followed by several Brutes. The Sergeant Major turned and called out as he primed a grenade,

"C'mon, you dumb apes! You want breakfast? You gotta catch it!" John watched with slight amusement as the grenade managed to kill several of the Brutes and Grunts that attempted to chase after them. Running around the rocky area to catch up, John realized with irritation that the majority of the Covenant here were Grunts and Jackals attempting to stall them. As they neared the area where Johnson disappeared, a new squad of Covenant appeared led by a Brute Captain. The fight didn't last long, however, as the squad was bombarded with the combining fire of Battle Rifle rounds, Carbine rounds, and fiery shotgun shells.

They arrived at the dam just in time to see a Brute Chieftain kick around Johnson with the Arbiter pointing in that direction as he explained,

"See how they bait their trap? I will help you spring it." John pulled out the Brute Shot he picked up earlier as the Arbiter readied his Energy Sword.

"Let's go beat 'em up!" A new voice chirped and the two soldiers turned to see the Guardian smacking a heavy-looking machine gun which elicited a loud 'Ow!' from it.

"You have an _AI _in your weapon?" John deadpanned, receiving a shrug that read, _It's not mine, I just found it_. Shaking his head as the Arbiter actually chuckled, the three readied themselves momentarily before jumping as one into the fray below, the gun shrieking in enjoyment as the Guardian activated some kind of controlling jetpack to soften his landing, firing the trilling gun at the Brutes that roared at them incessantly. This seemed to piss them off as the Brute Chieftain hefted its hammer and ran off towards the dam.

Using his jetpack once more, the Guardian effortlessly jumped over the gap in the dam where a bridge once stood and caved in a Brute Captain's chest with his boot, standing on its corpse as he fired his screaming gun once more. As the Guardian flanked them, the Spartan and the Arbiter went through the dam, clearing the area of squealing Grunts and more pissed off Brutes. Just as they cleared the area, they heard a roar and a loud explosion as the Brute Chieftain came into view, clearly even more pissed off than its brethren and wholly intent on crushing both soldiers with its hammer. It was comparably larger than the other Brutes, towering over even the Arbiter, and caused the both of them to continuously backpedal while throwing everything they had on their person at it without getting close it. One hit from that hammer, Spartan or not, they'd be nothing but a blood splatter on the ground.

Loud crackling filled the air, followed by the smell of ozone and the Chieftain stopped in it's charging to turn and watched as the Guardian, swirling with electricity and dark blue energy, jumped several yards into the air before flying down at an angle right onto the Chieftain, the electricity and energy engulfing it with a large explosion.

The dam grew quiet as the last of the Covenant squads died and they were left with the Guardian getting up from his low crouch, unholstering his weapon, and casually pointing in the direction that would lead to Johnson.

"What is that Human?" The Arbiter queried suddenly as they walked to the small building Johnson and several other Marines were being kept in. "He has the scent of your species yet it mingles with another."

"Maybe it's all the blood from those bastards he just killed," Johnson retorted snarkily as he got to his feet, waiting patiently for John to deactivate the plasma field. "This isn't as fun as it looks, Chief, cut the power!" As he ran out, he grabbed a Needler, adding, "We're even, as long as we're only counting today."

Hearing the familiar whirs of Phantom dropships, the trio, now a quad, exited the building just in time to see a pair of said dropships letting out several more Covenant squads.

"Kilo-23, what's your ETA?" Johnson demanded, not at all pleased with what he was seeing.

"_Imminent, Sergeant,_" Kilo replied after a moment's pause. With that settled, the squad ran around the dam once more, making what they could of the weapons surrounding them. At one point, Johnson got the brilliant idea of throwing grenades to destroy a particular Phantom which resulted in the discovery that six plasma grenades and whatever the hell the Guardian threw could actually take down a Phantom if stuck in the right places.

Shortly after their little discovery, the Pelican eventually arrived, taking down two other Phantoms with a barrage of ANVIL-II missiles before settling in front of them to allow them to board. Wordlessly, they all climbed into it, the Pelican dipping momentarily at the new found weight before taking off. The door closed as it flew over the outcropping, head towards an unknown location. From the cockpit, they heard someone say,

"_What's the word, Kilo-23?_"

"Sierra-117 onboard!" Hocus replied proudly. "Request priority clearance, over?"

"Deck's yours. Come on down. Sorry for the tight squeeze." The Pelican shuddered momentarily, a familiar feeling as it set down on firm ground, before the hatch opened once more and the four soldiers climbed out, the base filled with murmurs and whispers of awe and appreciation.

Johnson and John strode forward as Commander Miranda Keyes descended the stairs, saluting them as she smiled, returning the salute, and asked teasingly,

"Where did you find him?"

"Napping, out back," Johnson replied, his voice filled with a hint of mirth.

"I'll bet." She stepped forward, holding out a hand towards the Spartan. "It's good to see you, Chief."

"Likewise, ma'am," John returned, giving her a firm grip although being careful not to break her hand. She looked as if she were going to say something else but her gaze got caught on the white form of the Guardian, who was standing quietly behind John, looking around the area cautiously.

"Who's that?" The Commander asked, her voice causing the Guardian to snap his head forward, gazing at her intently. The helmet was elegant and smooth, interrupted by a bright purple crevice that glowed eerily in the center which reflected on her face faintly.

"He's with me," John answered firmly. "The Guardian." A small 'hm' met them as Miranda studied the Guardian a bit long, clearly unsure whether to trust him or not before looking back at the Spartan and then turning away.

"Let's get you up to speed," was all she said, leading them away from the landing pad.

"The Prophet of Truth's ships breached the lunar perimeter - smashed what was left of the home fleet." As they walked down the hall, they were met by two Marines that stepped to the side, saluting them, only to break their bearing and gawk at the Arbiter and Guardian who trailed behind. John made sure they stayed in his peripheral, in case they decided to amount to some kind of attack on them, not wholly trusting of their two new allies just yet.

"Terrestrial casualties from the subsequent bombardment were...extreme." They jumped to the side as two medics rushed through the hall with a groaning Marine on it, the Guardian's gaze lingering for just a bit longer than necessary, as if he were wishing to help before he fell back into step.

"Truth could've landed anywhere, but he committed all his forces here: East Africa - the ruins of New Mombasa. Then they started digging."

"What about Halo?" John eventually asked as they entered a command room of sorts. At the mention of Halo, the Guardian stiffened as if he knew what they were talking about, just a little more intrigued on what they were talking about, listening carefully, cautiously.

"We stopped it but only momentarily. Now the Prophet of Truth is looking for something called 'the Ark' where he'll be able to fire _all_ the Halo rings." She paused momentarily, turning to face the Spartan. "If he succeeds...Humanity, the Covenant - _all _the sentient beings in the galaxy -" she trailed off, not wanting to finish it.

"The rings will kill us all," John finished gruffly.

"Ma'am?" A Marine called, breaking the somber mood, "I have Lord Hood."

"Patch him through," Keyes ordered. Looking up at the screen above them, the familiar form of the Admiral appearing as he placed his hat on his head, arms crossing behind his back.

"Good news, Commander Keyes?" He asked, looking at the soldiers gathered, his eyes lingering slightly longer than necessary on the Arbiter and the Guardian before settling on the Spartan, evidently pleased to see him there.

"Good as it gets, sir," Keyes replied with a tinge of hope in her voice, looking over the Master Chief.

"So I see. What's your status, son?"

"Green. Sir," John answered quickly.

"Glad to hear it. Commander's come up with a good plan. But without you, I wasn't sure we could pull it off."

"Truth's ships are clustered above the excavation site," Keyes explained as she keyed something on the data pad, activating a map on one of the smaller screens, "and his infantry has deployed anit-aircraft batteries around the perimeter, but if we neutralize one of the batteries - punch a hole through Truth's defenses -"

"I'll initiate a low-level strike. Hit him right where it hurts," Hood supplied before adding, "I only have a handful of ships, Master Chief. It's a big risk but I'm confident-" The Admiral was cut off as the power shut down, the entire place going dark.

The only thing really penetrating the darkness was the glow of the Guardian's helmet and shotgun and the falu emergency lights which bathed the immediate area in a dim, eerie glow. As soon as it went dark, however, something appeared over the Guardian's shoulder, giving light. It was similar to describing a three-dimensional diamond that encased an orb. It was steel and dark blue and occasionally chirped, twirling the triangular pieces that gave it shape.

"Hell, not again!" The Marine grumbled just as Keyes demanded,

"Emergency generators, now!"

"Shielding failed, they're down and charging!"

"As soon as they're up, reestablish contact with Lord Hood. Let him know-" This time Keyes was cut off as the screens suddenly came to life, the Prophet of Truth's face filling the screen.

"_You are, all of you, vermin,_" he began. "_Cowering in the dirt, thinking what, I wonder? That you might escape the coming fire? **No**. Your world will **burn **until its surface is but **glass**. And not even your **demon **will live to creep - blackened - from its hole to mar the reflection of our passage. The culmination of our journey. For your destruction is the will of the **gods**: I know for one walks with you, one that you have wrongfully stolen from us and I will take **back **to restore its glory, for all to worship. As for I? **I** **am ****their** **instrument**!_" With that as the conclusion of his speech, the screens shut off as the power returned.

Johnson simply shook his head, cigar having been relit as he grumbled, "Cocky bastard. Just loves to run his mouth."

"Does he usually mention me." John deadpanned, Keyes chuckling momentarily before quickly retaining her composure, looking at the Marine closest to her.

"Give the order, we're closing shop," she ordered.

"Ma'am?" He asked in confusion.

"We're about to get hit. The wounded, we're getting all of them out," she said as she looked at the Chief, heading towards the stairs. She stopped in front of the Guardian, staring at him up and down and then at the little device hovering over his shoulder, "We're talking about you later."

The device merely chirped, hitting the Guardian in the head with its body before disappearing once more.

"Ma'am, the squad leaders are requesting a rally point - where should they go?" Keyes turned back while readying her magnum, saying simply,

"To war."

* * *

><p><strong>[<strong>_A/N: And there's that. We'll be heading into Crow's Nest soon after; I might combine Tsavo's Highway with it as well considering how short I can make them._

_I have one question, however: would you prefer that I write in Callixtus's POV or the Chief's? Or switch back and forth every so chapters? Please tell me so I can make the proper adjustments, this chapter was, more or less, a test to see how things would turn out._

_As always, please review if you have any questions, comments, or critiques. All are welcome._

_Thanks for reading._**]**


	5. IV

**[**_A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews and PMs and I hope that you're all having a safe New Years. _

_Hard to believe that it's already 2015, next thing we know, it's 2017 and Halo 3 is being remastered and it's going to come out as some kind of collection called the Believe Collection or whatever._

_I will be going through this story switching between POVs every two chapters from now on; thank you for your input, dear readers._

_Also, the only reason Cortana would be able to know about neural physics is through learning, John may not understand nor anyone else but she can get a slight hint, maybe just a name. People have the instinct of connecting unknowns with unknowns._

_In addition, AIs are known for coming up with the improbable, the impossible, through their vast learning and discovering and considering that she had access to Halo, it's highly likely that she went through its archives. Without a doubt, the Forerunners probably had some history based on the Precursors and whatnot stored in there somewhere. Also 343 Guilty Spark can't shut up to save his life._

_Another question to answer: the Vex coming into this timeline is a strong possibility and was originally a part of the plot I worked up but I'm highly on the fence about letting them in or not. As far as I'm concerned, I view the Vault of Glass as a fixed point in time; this means, on every plane of existence in every timeline out there, Atheon is defeated and the Vault is empty. Many of you might not agree with this but seeing as how strongly the Precursor Vex (and the Vex in general) associated themselves with meddling with time, I figured they'd at least achieved creating fixed points and the Vault happened to be one of them. This might change in the future but as for now, this is what it is._

_And. Callixtus isn't connected to the comms. that the Master Chief is hearing. He's literally just following him on the whim. He'll get connected soon._

_Here we are at Crow's Nest and Tsavo's Highway._**]**

* * *

><p>John was exasperated, the Covenant's relentless attacks and their blindness towards what they were really working towards was just now starting to irritate him. And Truth's message? A little more than vaguely...<em>disturbing<em>. Although it _did _raise some questions pertaining to the Guardian. Did the UNSC really have a Forerunner on their hands? If they did, the Guardian wasn't as awe-inspiring as John originally thought although he had to give him credit for his abilities and weaponry (that AI gun was still a bit of a mystery though, who would spend so much time to do that?).

"Ma'am, our perimeter cameras just went offline," a tech reported worriedly. Oh, right, the base was about to be attacked.

"Motion trackers?" Keyes questioned.

"They're down or we're not receiving, can't tell."

"Any of our birds squawking?"

"No, ma'am," a different tech replied. "Wait. Overwatch has contacts. Phantoms closing in on our position!"

"Any birds less than five minutes out, bring them in. Tell everyone else to scatter."

"Aye, aye." John jogged towards the miniature armory they had set up, the Guardian following behind languidly as Johnson announced that he and the Arbiter would be guarding the ops center. As he gathered magazines for the Assault Rifle and Battle Rifle he picked off the racks, a Marine ran up next to him, offering to lead the way to the perimeter, explaining more or less to those around him about the brief history of the Crow's Nest. As they passed through the simplistic cave system integrated in the building, he heard the familiar voice of Gunnery Sergeant Stacker ordering around several Marines to set up turrets. A loud rumble followed by an explosion made him take pause, watching as small bits and pieces of rock and dust fell from above before yelling into the comm.,

"_Point of entry, best assessment!_" Two Marines guarding another door answered immediately,

"Hanger, Sergeant!"

"_Agreed. Master Chief! Get there!_" With no need for further orders or encouragement, the Spartan nodded, opening the door, and swiftly making his way down the hall towards a large tunnel where he arrived just in time to see a Warthog get bombarded by several plasma grenades. He didn't even flinch when it exploded into a fiery blue ball; there'd certainly be no survivours on that one.

"_Chief?_" Keyes' voice crackled through on a rather shaky channel. "_Good, this channel is secure. My fireteams are spread thin and can't hold out much longer. I need that hangar cleared for evac ASAP._"

"Yes, ma'am," the Spartan rumbled as he rolled out into the tunnel, pinging several Grunts and Jackals before taking them down with several well-placed rounds from his Battle Rifle. The Guardian sprang forward, glowing shotgun in hand, and set to work on taking down the shielded Jackals, watching in amusement as they went down in shrieking, burning flames. A well thrown grenade finished off a group of retreating Grunts, blasting some supply crates out of the way and onto some of their skulls and even knocking the helmet off of the approaching Brute Captain. The Marines following broke into a fit of laughter as they emptied their Assault Rifles on the unsuspecting Covenant hostile, quickly ending its life.

Turning down a different hall, the squad was met with Jackal Carbine snipers and suicidal Grunts, using the Grunts to their leverage, the short firefight ended in a wonderful, continuous explosion of blue. As they passed by the corpses, the two Marines took it as a good time to stop and waste several rounds on the body of a Grunt before giving it a good kick; as they did this, John watched as the Guardian stooped to pick up several plasma grenades, studying them curiously before they disappeared in a flash of silver. The Spartan had seen this happen often, most obviously when the Guardian was finished using his AI machine gun; John had since figured out that this was probably how the Guardian managed to store so many weapons on his person. He _was _rather curious as to how it worked.

Hearing the familiar whir of a Phantom dropship's engines, John assumed that he had reached the hangar, satisfied to see that he was indeed correct just as the heard Phantom appeared, releasing the common squad of Grunts and Jackals, led by a mere Brute Minor. It wasn't all difficult, simply waiting for them on the platform, picking off the ones that didn't dive into cover immediately. The Covenant, however, were known to not give up so easily and just as they finished mopping up the rest of the Grunts, two more Phantoms appeared to drop off reinforcements, this time, the squad of Grunts and Jackals, several Minors and a Major.

Tossing out the remaining grenades he had, John rushed forward to engage the Major, leaving the Marines and Guardian to clean up the rest. The Major put his focus wholly on John, firing his Brute Shot wildly, only having a few actually hit the Spartan and bring his shields down to a quarter. Diving behind a concrete barricade, the Spartan watched the shield bar fill up before peering over the barricade, bullets pinging off the Major's helmet, noticeably denting it. Roaring in anger, the Major threw a Spike Grenade in retaliation - only to have the damned thing to stick to the _front _of the barricade, eliciting a brief chuckle of amusement from the Spartan as he shot up once more, knocking the helmet off the Brute and finishing it off with a clean shot to the head.

The Guardian joined him moments later, reloading his shotgun calmly. Having seen the small standoff, he pointed at the barricade, specifically at the few spikes sticking out of it, tilting his head as if to say, _What the hell was that._

"The worst throw ever," John answered simply, amusement still filled in his voice. "Either that or a wall was in his way." The Guardian simply shook his head at the terrible joke, something like a scoff coming from him, one of the first noises John had heard from him yet. He was still skeptical about that whole mind conversation thing back at High Charity.

They watched for several moments as the Marines assumed control of the hangar, calling out several Pelicans to prep for evac.

"_Chief,_" Johnson's voice crackled over the active comm. link, "_hustle back to the ops center. The Brutes are pushin' here._" John 'hm'ed in response, going back the way he came with the Guardian trailing behind. As they walked through the halls, they heard Keyes ordering for sit-reps from multiple areas around the base. They had made it through the majority of the halls without trouble, entering the area where the small cave system was when a Marine called out,

"Sir, this way!" The Spartan was about to enter the structure when he saw something fall from the ceiling; frowning, he was about to call out his speculation when a Drone flew in from above and grabbed the Marine, ready to fly away with him if it were for the Spartan's quick reflexes. Immediately, he brought up his Battle Rifle, gunning down the giant bug just as the rest of the swarm entered. As he ran outside of the bunker-like area, dodging the green bolts of plasma, he grabbed a turret and ripped it off its tripod as he heard the familiar yell of the AI machine gun the Guardian wielded. Back-to-back, the Spartan and the Guardian made quick, serious work of the swarm, satisfied that it didn't take much effort to get rid of them. Several of the bugs had attempted to pick up stray Marines, only to get hit by a barrage of bullets from his pissed-off allies.

The firefight couldn't have lasted more than three minutes. John dropped the depleted turret as the Guardian dispersed the AI machine gun (which disappeared with a chirpy farewell) and the two of them proceeded to enter the ops center, a Marine greeting them by cheerfully saying,

"Here comes the cavalry!" Above them, they heard Johnson making a passing remark about a bomb as Keyes warned him about his cigar. Walking up the stairs, they watched as Johnson put out his trusted cigar, John looking up at Miranda who had apparently made it back to the _Forward Unto Dawn_, her features displayed on the same screen Hood was on earlier.

"_Ah, Chief,_" she greeted as the two soldiers stepped down, inspecting the device set in front of them, "_look, a little going away gift for the Covenant. We've linked it to smaller charges around the base. Johnson, as soon as the evacuation is complete, set the timer._"

"Understood," the Sergeant Major replied with a nod.

"_Good luck, everyone. See you on the last Pelican out,_" with that said, she cut the comms., her face disappearing.

"Follow me, you two," Johnson said, turning and running around the two giant soldiers, leading them towards a different doorway where several Marines were standing, ready for whatever came through. Stopping in front of it, he turned and relayed the situation, "Brutes have taken the barracks with Marines trapped inside. Those apes ain't one for mercy, Chief, we both know what they do to prisoners." The Spartan nodded solemnly before stepping forward, unlocking the door and stepping through, the Guardian followed closely.

"Get to those barracks and save those men, escort them to the landing pad for evac!" Johnson said as a final order before the doors were shut. Looking at the area in front of them, John analyzed and saw that the entire squad consisted of Brutes ranging from Majors to a single Chieftain that stood haughtily at the top of the hill-like garage. They hadn't noticed the arrival of the two soldiers just yet so the two got into position; John looked over at the Guardian, satisfied that he seemed to get the same idea as he was, having taken out his unusual, explosion-prone sniper rifle.

After moving the unfortunate body of a Marine, the Guardian settled himself behind a barricade, rifle set up. John watched as he lined up his initial shot with a Brute Major surrounded by several Stalkers. Good, take out as many as he could on the first bullet.

John lunged forward, throwing a plasma grenade and successfully sticking the Brute Chieftain, although it wouldn't kill it, the grenade would, at least, severely weaken it. At the same time the plasma grenade exploded, the Brute Major disappeared into a cloud of violet energy, taking the Stalkers with it. Looking over at the simplistic destruction made, John saw that the Brutes slowly dissipated, at first, faintly outlined by the violet colour before slowly turning into it and disappearing entirely.

That would be something questioned later. He stored it in the back of his mind for later conversations as he rolled to the left, just barely dodging the Chieftain's hammer. The ape roared, changing direction at the last minute which caused it to soar just over the Spartan's head, giving an opening and allowing him to launch himself at the creature's abdomen, tackling it and rolling down the stairs, their weapons lost. Occasionally, bullets would pierce its body as they wrestled, trying to get the upper hand, the Guardian maintaining his distance, attempting to snipe out the remaining Brutes trying to intervene. One such bullet pinged off the Brute's helmet, knocking it off, and eliciting another angered roar from it.

A shout alerted John and he looked up, if only momentarily, to see the Guardian throw the Chieftain's hammer. Giving an uppercut to the jaw, John wrested himself free from the stunned Brute's grip, grabbing the handle of the hammer and turning, pounding the blade of it into the creature's skull just as he touched the ground. It fell into a heap without a sound, twitching as John stepped on its chest to free the hammer from it, satisfied that it had a good charge before turning to nod in appreciation at the approaching soldier.

Wordlessly, they continued on, going through a side door into yet another hallway. Heading towards a set of rocks blocking the way, they spotted a trapdoor in the ground and what looked like a Marine who attempted to crawl to it. Without hesitation, they jumped through; just as they landed into what was probably the underground sewer system connected to the base, John saw Her again.

She filled his vision, flickering in and out of view, and he paused at the entrance, waiting for Her voice to fill his mind again.

"_You have been called upon to **serve**._" They were simple words but he knew where they were from, originally, they came from Halsey, his surrogate mother. She had said these exact words the night he and his brethren were taken from their homes, to begin training.

As he gathered himself, he felt the Guardian's gaze on him but he didn't meet it, instead, he forged ahead, catching a glimpse of a Drone flying through the pipes. He ignored them, however, figuring they weren't exactly worth any of his bullets or time, climbing through the pipes just in time to hear the Arbiter. He listened as he landed behind the Elite, watching as he fired upon several Drones, attempting to get to them to rebel, to see their wrongs. It didn't work however, as they died before the Arbiter could continue, even though they didn't appear to show signs of listening.

Facing the two soldiers, the Arbiter explained, "Spartan, the Brutes have taken your soldiers...as prisoners or meat for their bellies, I do not know. In case some yet live, let us prepare for what lies ahead." Looking over John's head and at the Guardian, he nodded in greeting towards him, receiving one in return as the shotgun that John had become accustomed to seeing reappeared.

John opened the door into what appeared to be the barracks just in time to see a Marine's body fly into a pillar, ultimately killing the man and joining him with the other pile of bodies that lay below him. The Spartan grimaced, his dislike for the Brutes growing as he readied the hammer he had taken, turning the corner, he saw a Minor jogging towards another of his comrade, a Marine in its claws. As the Arbiter and Guardian lay waste to the others around him, the Spartan ran at the Minor holding the Marine, swinging the hammer and feeling satisfaction wash over him as it made contact, a resounding boom filling the area as the Brute's head became a blood pulp, the Marine jumping free from the scathing grip. He ran off, grabbing a Spiker from the ground and joined the other two in finishing off the other Brutes and freeing his friends.

The Spartan climbed up the ladder to take care of the Jackals and Brutes providing returning fire from above, making quick work of them with the blade of the hammer. It sliced neatly through a Major's neck, the head rolling from the catwalk and landing on the Guardian was passing by below. Confused, he looked at the head which continued to roll to the other side of the tunnel before looking up and seeing John with the headless Brute. He waved, giving a thumbs up, before going back to his bloody work. John turned towards the front, watching as the Brute Ultra set down a Bubble Shield, the bullets reflecting off it with ease; the Spartan lurched forward, sprinting inside the Bubble and priming a plasma grenade and sticking it to the device itself. Dazing the Ultra by hitting it with the handle of the hammer, John rolled back out and turned back just in time to see the grenade go off, taking the dome and Brute with it.

"Neat idea, Chief!" A Marine called out as the others around him cheered, running alongside the three soldiers. They continued further into the barracks, rescuing more and more Marines, enough to harness an entire platoon before reaching the other end of the tunnel. Leading them out, they reached a service elevator (thank God or whatever was listening, they could fit everyone on there) and were soon heading up to the landing pad.

As they went up, they heard Johnson report, "_Commander, we lost the ops center. Brutes had attacked in force. Couldn't hold 'em off. Goin' back to the hangar. Don't wait for us._"

"_Hold position, I'm not leaving without you!_" Keyes ordered.

"_Ma'am,_" the Pelican's pilot began, John recognized as Hocus, "_I've got movement above **and **below. Ah, damn! The Brutes have jetpacks!_" John looked over at the Guardian and remarked dryly,

"Sounds like your kind of people." The Guardian stared at the ceiling and John could practically _feel _the man roll his eyes. As the elevator stopped, they all rushed out, intent on destroying the jetpack Brutes; the Guardian rolled forward before launching himself from the ground, his own pack lifting him to meet a Brute in the air. Surprisingly, he managed to _punch _the Brute out of the air, the creature howling as it crashed with the ground, only to be silenced when the mysterious soldier landed on it with his boot on its neck, the snap audible. He lifted himself into the air once more, joining the fray through aerial hand-to-hand combat with the relentless Brutes. Many of the jetpack jumpers went down either riddled with bullets, in flames, or disappeared altogether thanks to the Guardian's mysterious powers. The ones that disappeared seemed to become energy, strengthening the Guardian's shields.

As soon as John signaled the all clear, Hocus appeared, returning to the landing pad to have the Marines climb aboard. However, just as the Marines climbed on, they heard the familiar sound of Drones. Johnson pointed this out, offering to provide covering fire as they made their way back to the ops center once more.

"_Brutes in the ops center,_" Johnson explained. "_Sorry, Commander, there were too many, even for me._"

"_Chief, kill those Brutes and rearm the bomb, I've got to get these men out of here. I'll radio for another exit, good luck,_" Keyes answered, receiving a 'yes, ma'am' from the Spartan. As they headed towards the hall leading to the ops center, John felt Her presence once more, again, Her face flickering in and out from his vision.

"_You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies,_" she explained proudly and he frowned. Well, he certainly wasn't doing a good job of it right now. Once again, he felt the gaze of the Guardian on him but he didn't dare to speak up, letting the super-soldier lead on. Entering the ops center as quietly as they could muster with that ridiculous heavy door squeaking, they listened as the Chieftain proudly reported the overtaking of the base. Truth, however, didn't sound pleased, whatsoever, demanding information as to how the UNSC was planning to stop them, ordering them to learn as fast as they could lest they be forgotten on their "Great Journey". This elicited a scoff from the Arbiter.

Walking forward, they spotted several Grunts, two Ultras, a Minor on a plasma turret, and a Chieftain standing by the bomb. John managed to stick both of the Ultras with plasma grenades as the Guardian shot down the Brute Minor with a Battle Rifle he picked off the rack. He dropped it as soon as the Brute was killed however, favouring his fiery shotgun above all else apparently. As they finished mopping up the Grunts, all three soldiers scattered just as the Chieftain shot multiple bolts of fuel rod power at them, striking where they were standing moments earlier. It was under the combined power of lead, plasma, and fire as well as grenades and the occasional opposing hammer, courtesy of John, (and dodging a helluva lot) that brought down the hulking creature, the both of them having suffered the loss of shields at the worst.

Quickly, John raced down the stairs, activating the bomb as soon as he could reach it, receiving a call of approval from Keyes.

"_Chief, we've got an escape route for you! Service elevator in the hangar, get there!_" Johnson ordered, the pair quickly complying and bursting into a dead sprint as they heard explosions echo around them. "_Head downstairs, cut through the caves!_" As alarms blared, they sprinted through the caves and halls and bypassed cowering Grunts and confused Drones, neither side paying attention to the other as they attempted to save their own lives. Passing through one particular hall, She appeared once more and John grinded to a halt, disoriented. However, as she flickered across his helm once more, the Guardian grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him along, not taking any of this shit right now.

"_There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead._" Why was she taking to quoting Doctor Halsey? Granted, she was a flash clone of the doctor's brain but- She had never done such until now...

As his vision cleared, he began running again, taking the Guardian's hand off his wrist, ignoring the explosions rocking the base, shaking the ground. They watched as a hoard of Grunts, followed by a swarm of Drones, ran by them through the tunnels before running around and through them, trampling and throwing some of them out of their way. The explosions and the lights flickering made the little creatures even more erratic than usual.

Once more, as they slid into the hangar, She appeared, Her eyes meeting his but giving no indication that She acknowledged his presence and the Guardian continued to drag him along, shooting down any Jackals or Brutes that happened to get in their way.

"_You will be the best we can make you._" And once again, John wrested himself from the Guardian's iron grip, making it known that he was wholly capable of running once more.

"_There isn't much time left, you two, so stop makin' out and get into that elevator!_" Johnson barked from the comms., prompting the two soldiers to move even faster. They leapt over a squad of Jackals and slid into the elevators, the Guardian shooting down any Covenant that attempted to board with them as the Spartan keyed the controls. The gates closed and soon they were heading down, fire from the explosion licking at their shields.

"_This place will become your home,_" She stated in a matter-of-fact tone, the blue flashing across his field of vision again. The explosion became more violent as the fire chased after them, the elevator racing down at improbable speeds, the fire tore down their shields and he felt the heat just as the lift exploded onto the ground, banging their heads together and leaving them unconscious. Before he fully went out, he heard Her say darkly,

"_This place will become your tomb._"

* * *

><p>John came around, responding to the sound of someone shifting next to him, rock and concrete falling off them as they got up and soon, a small whistle sounded. Blinking up at the remnants of the elevator shaft, the Spartan watched for a moment as the Guardian stood, its strange little diamond device hovering calmly over his shoulder, giving light. The Guardian looked around for a moment before stooping to pick up his trusted shotgun, the orange designs along its body glowing softly, mingling with the orchid light coming from his helmet.<p>

After several moments, the Spartan moved, getting to his feet himself. The Guardian turned, holding out a hand to help him up which John took gratefully, his back was sore after that hard landing. Looking around once more, the Guardian looked in the rubble once more before withdrawing with an Assault Rifle and a Battle Rifle in his hands, holding them out for the other. Taking them, John looked to make sure they were in working condition, nodding in thanks towards the other soldier before walking away from the ruined elevator towards where he could hear Marines talking amongst themselves.

"_Chief, please respond,_" Keyes called out over the comms., "_what's your status, over?_" Keying the comm., the super-soldier replied smoothly,

"Green, ma'am. The Guardian is with me as well."

"_Good to hear. Find transport and head to the town of Voi._"

"Yes, ma'am." John walked over to a more clear part of the enclosed tunnel, watching as emergency lights powered up, revealing three working Warthogs in place. He climbed into the driver's seat of the nearest one, looking at the white form of the Guardian and said, "Guardian! Get on the turret!" The soldier stared at the turret before slowly climbing on as if unsure of what to make of the device, the little device over his should chirping and whistling along as it twirled the triangular pieces, almost as if it were appreciating the vehicle. As he drove the vehicle out of its lot, Stacker called out,

"Chief's got the right idea. Let's mount up, get the hell out of these caves." The Spartan waited patiently as the Marines gathered themselves, one taking it upon himself to open the doors leading to a large cave system. Seeing the light filtering through the entrance, the Warthogs sped up, running over any and all Jackals and Grunts that attempted to stand in their way. Breaking out into the sunlight, they let their eyes adjust for a moment before seeing that they were in a large field, bypassing multiple towers the Covenant had set up and splattering even more on their way up the hill. The Spartan heard the familiar chatter of the chain gun being fired, removing any other lingering threats that could actually make them pause in their efforts to get to Voi, the largest threats being Jackal snipers, plasma turrets, and raging Brutes. There were the occasional Grunts throwing grenades but, as always, their throws fell short and they were easily avoided.

As the small squad of Warthogs went through several pathways in the hills, they came across a small clearing and rand headlong into a Phantom and several turrets. John just barely dodged several bolts from the two weapons, going completely around the plateau that the turret was on and letting the Phantom do its business as the other Warthogs followed him. Followed by the sound of the Guardian shooting, an explosion sounded as well, signaling that he took _something _down. Exiting the valley, a gruff voice came over the comms.,

"_My convoy's been hit, I need back up. We're on Tsavo Highway 'bout...east of Voi. Someone! Anyone! Please respond!_"

"Sounds like they're in trouble, Chief," the Marine sitting next to him remarked, receiving a nod in agreement as they came across the settlement that the troubled Marine had marked. Running over several Brutes and Grunts, the Master Chief jumped out of the Warthog, letting the Guardian's turret face off with the Choppers.

Just barely avoiding the angered swing of a Minor, John returned a punch of his own and caved the Brute's skull in. Turning away from the falling body, he raised his Battle Rifle, firing the three-burst weapon to get several Grunts off of a struggling Marine's tail before taking cover as a grenade was thrown his way. When he removed himself from the building, he watched as his Warthog sped by, the Guardian still on the back with the other Marine driving, whooping as they flew by, chased by several Choppers. Watching the last one fly by, John latched onto it at the last second, holding onto the back as he punched the Brute off before climbing in and assuming direct control of the vehicle. With combined fire from the Guardian in front and John in the back, the group of Choppers were reduced to scrap metal as they were chased around the settlement.

As the firefight settled down, the few Marines on foot sweeping up the last of the Grunts and Jackals, the Marine driving John's Warthog came back, jumping out with wide eyes, exclaiming,

"Damn! That was the first time I ever drove that thing! Whoo! I wanna do that again soon; if we ever find more of these 'Hogs, I'm callin' dibs on one of them!" John smirked with a small 'hmph' as he climbed back into the driver's seat, directing the 'Hog and his squad over to a tunnel where it was blocked off by a giant plasma barrier.

"Chief," a Marine called out, recognizing Stacker's voice, "the barriers only work against vehicles; you should be able to pass right through on foot."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," another Marine piped up as the Spartan got down, passing through the barrier with ease, and gunning down several Minors that were waiting inside. Hearing Truth's voice, he looked over his shoulder and saw a hologram recording preaching something about the "Great Journey", walking over to it, he stared at the alien momentarily before destroying the hologram. How about _no_.

After that, he repeatedly punched the barrier's generator, pleased to watch it exploded, his shields brushing it off, and the barrier disappearing.

"That is so _stupid_," the same Marine observed, the others guffawing at the flaw.

Driving on, they went through another cave-tunnel system before coming upon the actual highway. A loud crack filled the air and a Covenant flagship passed over head, heading towards the excavation site where a small storm was building up; a recon team began reporting in but they were broken up by the sudden arrival of the ship, the comms. being temporarily scrambled.

"_Say again, recon? You're breaking up,_" Keyes ordered.

"_Something beneath the crater, ma'am. Something beneath the storm,_" the recon team reported cryptically.

Coming across a set of barricades that blocked off the broken bridge, the Marines lamented leaving the Warthogs but climbed out nonetheless. Approaching the bridge, they saw that one of the sturdier beams, although bent and partially melted (long since cooled down), they would be able to walk across it with ease. John and the Guardian traipsed across it easily, patiently awaiting for the others to join them before continuing down along the highway.

"_Master Chief?_" Keyes came back through the comms., sighing in relief, "_Finally, a good connection. Truth has excavated a Forerunner artifact. Have to assume it's the Ark._"

"_Keep pushin' to the town of Voi, Chief,_" Johnson inputted. "_The supply birds will meet you in the next valley._"

"That means more 'Hogs, right?" A Marine asked hopefully, receiving a shrug. They arrived at a settlement just a little off the highway, stopping to assist in two Marines trying to take on an Ultra before moving to the buildings that were being bombarded with Fuel Rods. Luckily there were three more Marines inside, upping the numbers from ten to thirteen, deciding to stay at the settlement to wipe out the remaining forces, sticking to long range. At first, it was all clear when the Major dropped but then a Marine climbed onto one of the buildings to look out and yelled,

"Wraith! _Incoming!_" As soon as he said this, the bright blue ball of plasma wiped him from existence as it crashed onto the roof of the building. The giant, arch-based tank soon floated into view with a Brute in its turret, meaning that it'd be difficult to get in close and hijack it. Picking up the Fuel Rod as the others got into cover back inside the buildings, he grabbed the remaining rods, intent on covering it in the green gas. The Guardian stood at his side, a dark purple rocket launcher decorated with a blue, orange, and white emblem sat on his shoulder.

Was there a single type of weapon this soldier _didn't _have?

It didn't matter, the more firepower to take this thing down, the better. Dodging the next two plasma mortars from the Wraith, they simultaneously fired their weapons, the green rods lazily flying towards the Wraith compared to the speeding rocket that was the Guardian's. The Wraith was encased in a green cloud, the Brute in the turret dying after several barrages of the green stuff as the rockets crashed into the hull, splitting open and spilling out small cluster bombs that detonated upon impact on the Wraith. Several rounds of Fuel Rods and rockets, plus wild gunfire from the Marines, later, and the Wraith was left sputtering and smoking before exploding, leaving it a mangled, melting, metal mess.

As expected, two Pelicans appeared both carrying a Warthog which elicited whoops of excitement from the Marines as they rushed to meet it at the bottom of the hill. Climbing into one, John waited patiently as the other Marines got situated before continuing forward, dodging two Choppers and running over several Grunts and Jackals. Per usual.

They passed through a small alcove before coming upon another part of the highway, guarded by two Choppers which were made quick of, the Marine driving the other Warthog deciding his solution being to slam the vehicle into the Brute, exploding the damned thing as the Spartan allowed the Guardian to conventionally let loose on the other Chopper.

Flying off the broken bridge and into the valley below, the two Warthogs followed a beaten path, letting the turrets take care of the chasing Choppers as they avoided the Wraiths that threatened to make due with their vehicles. Successfully bypassing the Wraiths without any losses, they continued down the highway just in time to hear Johnson say,

"_Chief, the gate to Voi is just dead ahead! Smash that Brute blockade!_"

"With pleasure," John rumbled as the Marines cackled behind him, rushing headlong into the bluish-purple barricades, ultimately destroying all that got in their path. The Chief followed languidly, the Guardian and Marine next to him mopping up what the other Warthog left behind such as the jetpack troops and everything else.

"I'm so glad I'm not with those nutcases," the Marine grumbled as she threw a grenade on to the floating platform that passed by, chuckling when it exploded. "It's a miracle they're not dead yet."

"_Gotta seize the moment, Lacivi!_" One of the other Marines howled over the comms., explosions sounding ahead of them. Arriving at the gates of Voi, they spotted the other Warthog driving in a figure-8 near a downed Pelican, the plasma barrier that was there already down. They watched at a distance for a moment as the wild Marines miraculously gunned down several Covenant with pin-point accuracy before driving down the hill to join them, gunning down whatever they repeatedly missed.

After finishing off a plasma turret that wouldn't let up, John signaled the all-clear and two Pelicans arrived, one piloted by Commander Keyes herself. John exited the Warthog, followed by the Guardian, as Keyes conversed with someone inside the cockpit.

"_Marines,_" John recognized Lord Hood and listened with rapt attention, "_the Prophet of Truth doesn't know it yet but he's about to get kicked right off his throne. You will take our city back and drive our enemy into the grave they have been so happily digging. One final effort is all that remains._"

John looked at the distance where New Mombasa once stood, watching as another flagship passed by, heading towards the dig site where he saw a structure similar to the Forerunner dreadnought standing. Looking in his peripheral, he saw the Guardian staring at it was well although he gave off a vibe that said he was off-world rather than taking in what was in front of him.

The Spartan turned to face him, catching his attention and the other soldier did the same. Wordlessly, John held out a hand, visor meeting visor.

The Guardian, without hesitation, clasped the Spartan's hand with his own, shaking it firmly.

* * *

><p><strong>[<strong>_A/N: And there's that, finished both Crow's Nest and Tsavo's Highway. _

_I'm pushing out 6 - 7k words here now that's actually a feat in itself for me._

_Next up is the Storm. I may or may not have that separate from Floodgate, who knows, do you guys like long chapters?_

_We'll also be switching back to Callixtus's POV._

_Questions, comments, and critiques are all welcome so don't be afraid to review._

_Thanks for reading!_**]**


	6. V

**[**_A/N: Sorry this is very, very late, I've hit some bumps in the road and since a new semester has started, I've received a new class schedule and wow, I'm lagging. Sadly, this does mean that I'll probably only update once a month or every two months but that also means I'll do my best to make sure you all receive extended chapters. I should be able to extensively post during my spring break or summer or whenever I get another break. Sorry for the wait._

_Anyways, I should probably answer some questions and comments I got recently. _

_About Callixtus's ship and Sparrow, they, unfortunately, didn't make it through the timestream with him so, no, he won't be using them. Who knows, maybe he'll have some schematics somewhere?_

_The Master Chief, in my opinion, is a **very **difficult character to write purely due to the fact that this is probably the first time I've ever written him and I'm more well-adjusted in writing "chirpy" characters__. I'm running a trial-and-error but I really do appreciate everyone giving me pointers so thank you for the advice. Once I'm sure I've got it down, chapters will be revised to accommodate to this._

_Nony, in general, shipping them is a rather interesting factor and it's perfectly fine. Plotwise, it's weird, to me at least. We'll just have to progress further into the story to elicit everyone else's reaction._

_The AI machine gun Callixtus has is called Super Good Advice._

_Also, yes, that was the Fist of Havoc with Death From Above. There will be questions about this later on, reactions in Halo, irregardless of what, tend to be **very **subtle._

_Thank you for your patience and for that, I've kicked out around 10k words just for you, thanks for reading._

* * *

><p>Callixtus didn't know <em>exactly <em>what he'd been doing for the past several hours; it had been a wild day which ranged from getting berated at an alien the Humans called the "Prophet of Truth" to blowing up a base to escaping from said blown up base and killing aliens with a mounted turret on the back of a truck. He was standing on the mentioned truck, travelling through a dim tunnel towards a warehouse; it was quiet, the soldiers murmuring amongst themselves as the vehicles (Warthogs, he recalled) stopped at the warehouse, the Master Chief stepping out from where he was sitting as the soldiers gathered around the door. Others positioned the vehicles as close as they could without running over their comrades.

The Titan stepped down from the turret when the Master Chief faced him, giving him a faint 'get-down-here' gesture, and stood rigidly at the super-human's side, Invective at the ready. He watched as the Human activated the doors and slipped through them before they finished opening, going up a set of stairs and peering down the railing and below to see several of the more weaker aliens wandering about, seemingly listening to the hologram that displayed a sermon of the so-called Prophet. He vaguely remembered Ghost informing him that it was called a 'San 'Shyuum', a race of aliens that existed in the low hundreds and kept well away from their solar system. Looking over his shoulder, he remained crouched as the Master Chief keyed another set of controls that allowed the Humans to slip through and unleash their bulleted glory upon the smaller creatures. Another door opened and they ran through, blasting down the shielded creatures set back only momentarily when the ape creature tried to climb into an unusual purple vehicle.

Two more of the dark orchid, slightly bulbous vehicles sat off to the right; Callixtus stared at it, unsure if it had some kind of auto-pilot or if he should get on. He watched curiously when the Master Chief easily slipped into the seat of one of them, the vehicle automatically activating, hovering above the ground as a faint hum joined in with the soft rumble of the Warthogs' engines. Callixtus hesitantly approached the last one sitting quietly next to the Chief; slowly climbing on, he got one of the few surprises of his life when the vehicle suddenly began hovering in the air, it bobbed and dipped momentarily, a little more sensitive than a Sparrow and he glared at it as if it personally offended him before he gained control. It was nothing like a Sparrow in build per se but it would compensate, he supposed, as he guided it out of the warehouse and towards a small field, following the Master Chief, idly aware of the Warthogs that cruised alongside him. They split off when several of the mortar-based tanks started attacking them, Callixtus getting the feel of simultaneously driving and shooting at the same time, doing his best to not stray too far from the Humans in case they ended up driving off once more. He maneuvered deftly around several other vehicles, watching as the plasma washed over the metal, eventually melting the casing and creating a bright blue-and-white explosion that crackled over his Arc shields when he got too close.

Driving up the ramp and towards another warehouse, Callixtus barely tossed the mangled tank a sparing glance as he made his way inside, jumping down from the vehicle in time to blast away several of the beady-eyed birds and squat whiners. Looking up the stairs, he spotted a group of apes, the majority of them heavily armored, one of them reminiscent to those that wielded the hammer and the green plasma cannon. Without a single thought, the Titan charged towards them, delivering a powerful shoulder-charge into the gold ape, caving in the armour but not killing it, a well-placed fiery shotgun shell finished it off. Delivering a powerful backhand to the metallic aegean ape, Callixtus turned to face the heavily-armoured one only to hear a loud shriek pierce the air momentarily before bright light filled his vision; the Titan stumbled back in surprise, his back hitting a wall as he threw his arm over his face, throwing a wild lightning grenade, feeling the crackle of its energy and the occasional pulse as the electricity whipped furiously at the surrounding enemies. Several howls met his ears and the smell of burning flesh filled the air as the light eventually faded away, revealing two dead apes and a singed one.

The Titan reached for his Invective, ready to take the creature head-on when a barrage of bullets and a well-placed blow to the head grounded it once and for all. Blinking rapidly to get rid of the afterimages of the flare, Callixtus nodded towards the Master Chief who simply crouched to pick up spare clips of ammo before exiting the room, marching over to an ammo crate and picking up a rocket launcher and the Human-rendition of a pulse rifle. As the Humans gathered what supplies they could scavenge, loud buzzing filled the air followed by the appearance of the oversized bugs Callixtus recalled encountering in the caves; several made some grabs at the smaller Humans and the buzzards seemed to be clever enough to give the Master Chief and Callixtus a wide berth, primarily concentrating on taking out the weaker Humans that accompanied them. They didn't deem any real issue and they were quickly mopped up, the Humans having not suffered any casualties to the bugs. Soon, they made their way through the tunnels, coming across a set of seemingly smaller versions of the Warthogs; when the Guardian nudged the super-soldier and pointed at the small vehicles curiously, all the Master Chief grunted was, "Mongoose." and got on, prompting the other to take out his FWC rocket launcher and jump onto the back, holding on to the small latch it had. They had only gotten several feet forward when the Master Chief seemingly froze, his head lowering slightly, his body tense as if he were waiting for Callixtus to stab him in the back - or worse.

Callixtus recalled seeing this happen to the Human several times, twice when they were escaping from the crumbling base, having dragged him along; by then, the Guardian was used to it and waited patiently for the moment to pass. He didn't know what it was nor was he going to ask but Ghost had reported that some sort of mental phenomena was happening, causing the Chief's vitals to spike insanely before he went back to whatever he was doing as if nothing happened. Callixtus was intensely intrigued, perhaps even slightly worried, but didn't feel it was a subject to pry on for as soon as it had begun, the Master Chief was back in action and they were rolling out.

Blinking in the momentary sunlight, Callixtus found the squad in yet another field similar to the last yet it had more open space and the structure to the left consisted of a simple lift and catwalks connected to it. They drove out into the open fields, coming across two anti-air oriented tanks, a dull crimson in color with two cannons on each side, a plasma turret mounted below it being controlled by one of the apes; the Warthogs and Mongooses drove nimbly around them, distracting them from the sky although several were chased off by the rough, bulbous, single-pilot vehicles that defended it and soon they delved into chaos. Callixtus focused on one of the anti-aerial tanks, drawing it's attention away from the skies and onto the small, deft vehicle that taunted it; the first rocket to strike the tank was enough to kill the ape in the turret and several plates of armor melted and fell away, combined with a second barrage of rockets and bullets from chain-gun hell and the AA tank didn't really stand a chance, slumping down into yet another mangled mess. Several of the violet, triangular, swift vehicles were dropped by a dark blue dropship but the aliens in it were weak and didn't stand a chance, going down almost immediately as soon as they hit the earth.

When the last AA tank was destroyed, the soldiers idly drove around before pausing, the sound of aerial combat faint in the distance. Callixtus tilted his head slightly as the soldiers began staring at the sky, he didn't like the feeling he was getting one bit. Something was coming, something uncomfortably _large_. It came from the sky with the sound of a whining Praetorian and crawled over the facility as if it were a giant arachnid; purple in colour with four spindly limbs and a curved body, a turret was mounted on the top, and its front glowed a deadly looking green, reminding Callixtus of the Hive. It stomped on one of the Warthogs, the explosion barely rocking the metallic beast as it strode forward, looking around at the small prey scuttling around its feet; it dipped low for a moment as the green front glowed brightly, aiming towards Callixtus and the Master Chief. Just as the violent stream of green plasma shot out, the Master Chief veered away from it, the beam rocking the ground beneath them and nearly sent the vehicle tumbling forward.

"The legs!" The Master Chief barked, barely dodging the large plasma bolts raining from above. The words were all the prompting the Titan needed as the Mongoose made a tight turn, facing the behemoth once more which was concentrating on one of the few Warthogs remaining. Training the rocket on to the aforementioned target, Callixtus observed in the split-second it took to aim and fire the guided explosive that the armor on the legs seemed relatively _loose _in the simplest terms and it was no surprise yet a surprise when the small rocket burst, creating more rockets, and the plating fell off once several more rockets from the soldiers bombarded it. What _was _an actual surprise was that the metallic arachnid crouched even lower as it shook violently, a loud siren echoing around them; what it was doing, only Callixtus could guess although the top cannon still seemed to be functional, shooting at whatever moved within it's sight.

The Master Chief guided the Mongoose beneath the four-legged tank and jumped off, climbing onto a low platform that extended into it's belly. Callixtus jumped off, grabbing for his Invective as he jumped onto the mechanical creature as well, following the super-soldier. Several weak aliens stood in their way, easily taken care of with either a brutal, skull-caving punch or a well-placed grenade, knocking them off and into the traffic of Warthogs and Mongooses below. Climbing up the beast and into a particular room that the aliens seemed adamant on guarding, they found a shield in the wall; easily, the Master Chief tore it down, revealing the controls beneath it and four pipes leading into it. Upon closer inspection, however, Callixtus realised that the pipes were actually _flesh_, some type of _wyrm_ that pulsed with every shudder and plasma bolt. The beast was metal _and _flesh. It was _alive._

As soon as they shot it apart, the entire beast became shaking even more erratically and Callixtus heard a soldier yell in the distance, "Get away! It's gonna blow!"

Easily, the pair jumped out of the belly of the beast as explosions rocked the synthetic-organic, jumping into a Warthog that drove up to them. Callixtus twisted around in time to hear the beast scream before exploding into a blaze of blue-and-white plasma, the body vaporising, leaving nothing but the legs as they thundered to the ground with a loud crash, bits and pieces of metal (and maybe even flesh) raining down upon them as the soldier drove the two to the facility. Climbing down, they walked over to the catwalk and went back inside the facility once more, receiving several compliments and cheers of approval, the Master Chief stopping for several moments to pick up ammo from the crates, reloading his weapons with fresh clips. He made the notion that he was going to move on but froze once more, staring straight ahead as he lowered his weapons.

_See? There go his vitals again._ Ghost's sudden presence nearly made Callixtus jump but he merely tensed, waiting calmly for the Chief to regain his bearing as he always does in these moments. _Still can't pinpoint what's doing it, although it seems like it's happening more often. Interesting._

_Where have you been? _Callixtus snapped, slightly irritated that his little light wasn't there to give him pointers and, quietly, slightly missing the snarky comments the tiny AI made whenever he was out fighting.

_Analysing everything. Especially those tanks you encountered. That big one you came across, the one with the four legs, I like that one. I can give you the data once I've reached a comfortable conclusion. Sorry for not holding your hand, Guardian._

Callixtus mentally snapped at the Ghost who simply let out a warm laugh and disappeared again, their conversation, although feeling like it lasted for a good deal, having only lasted for several seconds, and soon the two men were making their way through the facility once more. As they made their way through the halls, Callixtus heard the vibrating baritone of the jawless Vandal he recalled fighting alongside with momentarily. The Arbiter, that was what he was called. An interesting but capable fighter. The Titan also recalled the Humans calling his species 'Elites'.

"There was honour in our Covenant once," the Arbiter was saying, holding two plasma weapons in his clawed hands, "and there shall be again." Nods of greeting were swapped and the trio was soon making their way into another area of the facility, an even bigger warehouse where a multitude of shipment containers were being held. Apes of varying classes seemed to be scattered around the area, leaping about the containers and catwalks as if they owned the building, occasionally firing their spiked weapons to keep the Humans at bay. Their confidence seemed to disappear momentarily at the appearance of the three hulking soldiers but they soon roared challenges towards them, hurdling grenades and spikes alike at them. Callixtus and the Master Chief charged forward as the Arbiter hung back, delivering plasma fire before launching towards the apes as well; it was as if an ocean wave crashed into a bay of rocks, corpses of the apes rocketed into the air, the weakly armoured aliens standing no chance against two shotguns, plasma weapons, and outraged soldiers. The rocks tried to move but the wave only pushed harder, step by step, death by death, they swarmed through the warehouse, for the single moment as the firefight continued, they felt powerful and unstoppable. At one point, Callixtus watched from the corner of his eye, the Master Chief punched _through _one of the weak-armoured apes and tore out it's _spine_. The ape fell down with a pained howl, actually _sobbing_, before it began choking, the blood welling up as it writhed on the ground, stomped on by the merciless soldiers and ignored by its brethren, dying alone and in excruciating pain.

Weaving through the civilian workers that surrounded the area, the trio made it to the other side of the warehouse, unaware of the bloody corpse trail they left in their wake, neither did they care of it. It was work and it was work well done.

Heading towards the other entrance, the doors lifted up and several more civilian workers stumbled through, flailing and tripping over each other as they screamed incoherently, something about a pair of large 'Hunters' making their way into the warehouse. They didn't get much in as a large beam of green plasma appeared from outside and blew up several fusion coils scattered around the room, taking the civilians with them. There were cries of anguish from those behind the trio and shouts of outrage from the soldiers that had followed after them. Two azure armored beings entered the room, reminiscent of a Phalanx to Callixtus somewhat, not in shape or species but rather in how they held themselves. _Behind a shield._ Spikes protruded from the armour and they were hunched forward when they stood in place, revealing orange-pink flesh exposed in the back, flesh similar to what Callixtus saw in the synthetic-organic beast.

Although the green cannons were a new concept as were the species of the alien as a whole, Callixtus knew just about every single bit of how to counteract and act against a Phalanx. They were cowards who hid behind the safety of a flawed shield and he knew just _exactly _how to destroy that safety. He put some distance between himself and the soldiers, making sure that the Phalanxes didn't notice him before sliding behind the one farthest from the Humans, unloading several flaming shells on to its exposed back before planting a lightning grenade in case it didn't die from the fire. It howled in pain as Callixtus got to his feet, attempting to sprint away from it; however, he only put several yards between him and the Phalanx before it swung its arm over it's head and towards the offender, the shield reaching farther than the Titan expected and he slammed into a set of containers, his vision going white for several moments as pain exploded on his left shoulder. He watched hazily as the lightning grenade finished the Phalanx off, setting the second one howling as well, seemingly mournful and enraged at the other's defeat, making it more erratic and wild.

_Guardian__? _Ghost's presence came forward once more, panic filling his mind before it left and he saw the little diamond-like AI appear in front of him, one 'eye' flickering and pieces twirling worriedly, ignorant of the battle behind it. "Callixtus? Hey, come on, you've suffered worse than this! Get up!"

Callixtus slurred a series of curses in retaliation, grabbing his Invective as he pushed himself to his feet, distantly hearing and feeling the rumbling crash of the second dead Phalanx; he stumbled forward several feet before reaching up to grab at his shoulder. His hand came away with white, glowing fluid and he stared at it as if trying to process what it was, eyes wide behind the helmet.

Light. He was bleeding his Light.

He was vaguely aware of Ghost flying around his head, taking in several scans as the Master Chief and the Arbiter jogged over to him. Callixtus shook his head rapidly to try and clear it of the haze that filled his mind but only succeeded in making himself dizzy and swayed slightly, his arms held out to balance himself; the Master Chief's hand shot out to steady him although his eyes were set on Ghost who was scanning the gash on Callixtus's shoulder.

"Thank the Traveller, it didn't hit your bone or arteries. Just a gash," the Ghost explained, the familiar blue light flashing over the wound, sealing it slightly. "It'd be better if it healed naturally. I did what I can and it's gonna leave an ugly scar but I think your only worries now are that it'll leave your skin exposed and you now have a giant flashlight on your shoulder. I also gave you a stimulant so you don't pass out." The Ghost flew back, floating just in front of the Master Chief, and flickered it's eye at Callixtus disapprovingly.

"Please don't do that again, Guardian, you've been reckless lately and I don't want to have to go so far as to revive you. Again," the Ghost scolded before dipping forward and disappearing back into Callixtus's mind. The trio was silent for a moment, the Master Chief and the Arbiter staring at Callixtus who avoided their gazes, rolling his shoulder and hissing at the soreness that was there before he crouched to pick up his Invective once more.

The Arbiter stepped forward, almost reaching out as if to touch Callixtus's wound but merely settled with a gesture towards it, remarking softly, "You are a strange one indeed, Guardian. You are Human yet you are not and your companion-" he trailed off for a moment as they continued walking before finishing haltingly, "-an unusual pair but compatible. I only hope that you side with us because you also see through the Prophet's lies and seek the truth."

They continued on in silence, their previous rage from their rampage now faded away, and they swept through their enemies like a silent hurricane. Still, nothing hindered them, working together to take down the simplest enemy to the hammer-wielding, crazed ape that swung at them. The power of the hammer pounded and vibrated into the ground yet they stood, unshaken, and dodged, danced, weaved around the creature, exchanging bullets and violent strikes yet they didn't voice a victory or signs of satisfaction when the ape fell with a gurgle. Wordlessly, the Master Chief picked up the hammer, hefting it with ease as the other two continued on, clearing a straight path of grunts and the squawking, shielded birds. The path lead from the facility to a barren hill, the only thing occupying it was a squad of heavily armoured apes and a powerful, plasma-based anti-aerial weapon that occasionally shot at the human vehicles inhabiting the sky. Callixtus noticed that only one shot made it into the air before it had to cooldown for around eight seconds before firing once more.

At the base of the hill stood several more squads of the squat, grunty creatures, scattered around. Callixtus and Arbiter distracted them with ease, Callixtus swapping the Invective for his Syzygy pulse rifle, the simple burst-shot weapon allowing the Titan for more accuracy. All was going well, he and the Arbiter easing their way up the hill as the Master Chief sprinted by, hammer in hand, occasionally disrupting the air with a loud, vibrating boom before disappearing over onto the top of the hill; Callixtus was caught by surprise when he shot the head off of one of the squat creatures and a loud _pop_! filled the air followed by a burst of colourful paper; the Titan stared at the little bits of paper for a split-second before turning back to the remainder of the enemies, giving a confused noise as he tried to comprehend what just happened. The Arbiter simply chuckled, explaining,

"Quite the surprise, yes, but they are sporadic. Do not expect them often."

As they climbed to the top of the hill, they watched as the Master Chief smashed an ape's hand against the wall with the hammer, making the creature howl in pain as it's appendages were smashed between the rock and golden weapon it wielded; it snarled and snapped at the armoured Human but only succeeded in getting it's head smashed into the wall next to it's hands, creating a bloody pulp that splashed against the Chief's sage armour. The super-soldier dropped the hammer and picked up the golden weapon, turning to face the bottom of the aerial turret to which the Titan and Arbiter did the same, patiently waiting for the giant weapon to overheat. As soon as it fired the next plasma bolt, the bottom of the weapon folded away to let a large, white orb fall out, surrounded by smoke and steam, cooling down in the crisp air that surrounded it; when the orb appeared, immediately, it was barraged by green plasma, regular plasma, and kinetic rounds, Callixtus figuring that the eight-second window was enough time to destroy the turret.

They watched appreciatively as the orb exploded, bringing the rest of the weapon with it, purple-blue flames being all that remained of it as they turned away to gaze at the excavation site in the distance. Multiple longswords appeared from the distance, flying to the device the enemy had uncovered as several more flagships appeared in the distance behind them, flying towards it with hurried speed, firing at the device. However, just as they flew towards it, the ground below the device dipped down as several prongs lifted up and the device disappeared into the ground, bright light appearing as it activated. A pillar of blue energy streamed from the disappearing tool growing in size as it gathered power, the prongs lifting up and forming a contemporary wall around it. The energy seemed to have some kind of magnetic well, pulling in all ships near it ranging from the longswords - which disappeared without a trace - to the flagships, both Human and alien alike. As the pillar let out a burst of power, the trio of soldiers were thrown against a set of boulders, the immense power knocking all of them out.

Callixtus's shoulder flared in pain, the Light responding to the pillar of energy, and he faintly remembered his own voice crying out in response before he slumped over, unconscious.

* * *

><p>The Titan's shoulder pulsed with a numb kind of pain as he slowly came to himself once more. Shaking his head to clear of the oncoming headache, he got to his knees, breathing in deeply before pushing himself to his feet, leaning against the boulder to steady himself. Looking around, he saw the Master Chief also get to his feet and that the Arbiter stood several feet away, staring at the sky; looking up, he saw a giant, lapis gate in the atmosphere, the prongs in the ground seemingly stabilising it as the device launched towards it.<p>

_A Timegate?_ The words flashed across his mind, filling him with a tinge of hope before he sullenly realised that, no, it wasn't a Timegate. The Vex's work consisted of Darkness and reeked of Time itself, this gate didn't leak of both but it seemed that his wound responded accordingly to it, the Light pulsing gently along with the gate. Watching as the device entered the gate, Callixtus hissed and clutched his shoulder when the Light burned brightly, casting a soft glow around him. So, it was connected to this gate then. The Titan didn't recall being told of this area back on his Earth by the Speaker nor the Vanguards; then again, he was stationed in the far Northern area of the planet, perhaps the Guardians stationed in the South had some idea of what it was.

He watched as the alien flagships entered the gate and bit his lip so hard, he tasted more Light spilling from his wound. It _burned_ in a way that it felt so _pure_; he didn't imagine such a thing to be so _painful_. The more that entered, the brighter the wound got, and soon, the Titan nearly keeled over with a gasp, vaguely aware of the Master Chief facing him sharply and the Arbiter roaring at the flagships. Whatever was in that gate was connected to his Light.

_Ghost...?_ Callixtus reached out mentally for the little light and was almost immediately given a response.

_Looks like that device is Forerunner make. Has traces of Light. Trying to find other connections as to why it affects you. Probably something to do with the Seekers, I'll keep digging. Hang in there. These things don't happen without reason._

As the last ship entered the gate, the burn and glow began to die away and the Titan found himself on his needs, blinking away tears of pain. Looking up, he saw the Master Chief crouched in front of him, seemingly unsure of what to do but looking over the Guardian to make sure he was still breathing.

Slowly, Callixtus removed his hand from the wound, the Light dying down to small, faint pulses once more, and the Master Chief gave a slight nod as if in approval and stood, offering a hand to which Callixtus took gratefully, being hauled to his feet.

Turning their gaze back to the gate, a small boom sounded in the distance and the trio of soldiers looked to their left to see a warpstream open and another flagship fly out. However, this one was smoking and veered sharply towards the facility as if specifically targeting them. They took out their weapons, ready for whatever dropped from it, watching as it began to pass.

Once more, the Light reacted - it began _humming _quietly, pulsing once more as the ship passed overhead and Callixtus could feel waves of Darkness rolling off it in waves, the ship dropping off the reeking smell of rotting, infected flesh. Whispers filled his mind as they turned to watch it crash in the shipyard they were in simply an hour earlier. Turning to face where it crashed, they stared down the hill, Callixtus and the Master Chief knowing _exactly _what they were going to be facing.

"What is it?" The Arbiter asked, seemingly hesitant. "More Covenant?"

"Worse," the Master Chief answered simply. They descended from the hill, backtracking their way through the facility. As they passed through the packaging area, Callixtus couldn't help but notice the sudden multitude of bodies, having been unaware of them as he rarely, if ever, went back to the same place twice in the same day. When he did go back, the bodies were gone; only now was it registering just how bloody and ruthless Humans and Guardians were.

Screams filled the air and the three soldiers were on high alert, snapping their weapons toward the roofs when two infected forms leaped from the containers. They watched as they bounded away, not wanting to attract unnecessary attention.

When they approached the main gate, they saw that it was locked down and sealed, the only way being through a small office to the right. A small group of soldiers stood around the gate and they all jumped when a scream followed by the deathly shriek of the infected filled the air. Spores rained down from above, some latching onto surprised soldiers and immediately burrowing into their chests. Callixtus scowled at their pained screams, blasting one poor Human away before the spores could finish growing on his already mangled body as infected forms jumped down from the roofs above.

More spores appeared from behind in a sort of ambush shortly followed by a set of infected as the soldiers were herded into a tight perimeter behind Callixtus, the Master Chief, and the Arbiter. Despite being a rather simple enemy to beat in terms of combat, the Grave Plague's supplies never ceased to exist seeing as they stood right in front of it, practically handing themselves on a silver platter. The only advantage the organics had was the ability to deplete the deceased organics and to protect themselves from the spores.

Whenever the Plague neared Callixtus, he nearly shuddered at the Darkness that rolled off them; it was _ancient_ and _raw_, a feeling that he'd never felt even when he delved deep into the Hellmouth and the Vault of Glass. What he faced now was like a _pure _form of the Darkness. The Light responded accordingly, pulsing and flashing, driving away any of the Plague that got too close but, as useful as it seemed like, his shoulder and wound _ached_. He felt as if it could fall off at any point and whenever the Plague actually _touched _him, the Light seared him and the creature with an intense amount of pain, he was surprised he was still standing. The Plague, however, wasn't better off: the Light seared the infected creatures, making their flesh _boil_ and _bubble _and sometimes, if they lingered long enough, it _popped_, rendering limbs or entire carcasses _useless_.

As they moved forward into the warehouse once more, Callixtus rolled his shoulder, the Light leaking down his arm for a moment as the wound reopened from what little healing it was given. The Light was caught in a groove in the gauntlet and Callixtus paid it no attention, only thinking to himself that he needed to get it fixed and _soon_.

After saving a Human from being mauled and infected by a small herd of the spores, the trio stepped into the warehouse once more in time to see a small group of cornered soldiers doing their damnedest to fight off the infected. They poured in from all directions: behind containers, ceilings, gaps, walls, anywhere where an entrance allowed the Plague to squeeze through. The Master Chief pressed forward to go behind the soldiers' barricade and acted as a last defensive measure so that nothing got past him as Callixtus and the Arbiter went out and stomped out any corpses lying around, taking care of any infected that got too close.

The Plague, although weak, was nimble and leapt anywhere to which they could find purchase. Most of them found refuge on top of containers, well away from the shotguns the Humans favoured, but found fault in it when sniped out by the Arbiter's carbine or Syzygy. Some hid _inside _the containers and prompted either Callixtus or the Arbiter to duck inside and get bombarded by an overwhelming amount of infected or spores.

Luckily, no soldiers were lost to the Plague this time.

Making their way through the warehouse, they came upon the other entrance, seeing a soldier using a flamethrower before the infected managed to sneak up behind him and take him out. As soon as the soldier died, the Plague focused their attention on the newcomers, heading mainly towards the Humans, seeing them as the evidently weaker prey. Callixtus managed to shoulder-charge one of the infected apes away from a soldier, the Light burning into the pilot spore, eliciting a loud shriek from the Plague and a hiss of pain from the Titan.

The Guardian was silently grateful for the Invective's regenerative ammunition as he pelted shell after shell into the burning, wild carcasses of the Plague.

Distantly, he heard the Arbiter taunt, "I am willing to kill you! Again and again!" as he blasted apart nearing infected and stopped on the rotting corpses of intact vessels. They had only lost one soldier to the infected, the Human having strayed a little too far from the tightly packed group. A lesson hopefully learned by the others as they stayed huddled, moving forward only after the Master Chief signalled so.

Making their way across the catwalk, the Master Chief signalled for the soldiers to stay where they were to wait for evac before they jumped through a hole in the floor in the next room. Callixtus just barely missed landing on the Master Chief's head as he had suddenly paused in what he was doing, entering what Callixtus had taken to calling his 'phenomena state'. Once more, he patiently waited for the moment to pass, shrugging when the Arbiter queried as to what was occurring.

And then, suddenly, the Master Chief was back. He pressed forward as if nothing had happened and Callixtus fell smoothly back into place, Invective ready for whatever was around the corner. What they came across was a Human surrounded by partially infected corpses; he was sobbing, a magnum placed to his temple, and he blubbered on, explaining about what happened to his squad, his comrades, his friends. The Master Chief knelt before the man, not saying a word, but gently pried the magnum from his hands, evidently having dealt with people like this before, the man not once protesting; the super-soldier turned the safety on and dropped the magazine from the weapon before placing it on the ground before the Human then getting up and walking away.

"You would leave your comrade defenseless?" The Arbiter questioned in disbelief, he and Callixtus following him outside.

"He's not defenseless, I only disarmed him," the Master Chief answered simply. "I've seen their type before; he chooses how it ends." It was cryptic and cold and the Arbiter didn't appear satisfied with the answer but didn't pay the Human any more attention as more flagships appeared into the atmosphere. At first, Callixtus tensed but then saw the way his allies reacted and watched as pods fell from the ships, landing in the small piece of land ahead. Elites burst from the pod, shooting their plasma weapons at the approaching Plague.

After watching for several tense seconds, they moved and descended the ramp, joining up with the aliens as they finished mopping up the corpses. They greeted the Arbiter and Master Chief, giving Callixtus a lingering, wary glance before offering the move ahead and assist with clearing the area out. The Elites exchanged words about their fleets, hearing that this Covenant had smashed through them, making them turn from hundreds to lingering numbers. It was unnerving but Callixtus recalled that the odds were about the same in his timeline, the Light's inhabitants lingering in the low thousands.

They forged ahead, looking up at the gate which seemed closer than it appeared. Staring long enough into it was chilling and Callixtus was nearly grateful when the Plague attacked, making him focus his attention elsewhere.

_If you gaze long enough into the Abyss-_

Idle words for an idle mind. Certainly a dangerous thing. He pushed the thought into the back of his mind and focused on dismembering the rotting corpses of the Plague as he simultaneously shot down a number of flailing infected, satisfied to watch them go down in a burning, shrieking, withering mess.

Walking up the ramp, Callixtus flinched when a human infected jumped down in front of him and pelted his shields with plasma bolts. Oh, _fantastic_, they were wielding weapons now. Tearing out the small spore, he scowled when he popped the damned thing, the corpse crunching underneath his boot as he shot down an infected ape that had been wielding a curved, crude version of a grenade launcher of some type. He leapt back in surprise when a swollen body came up to him and practically threw itself at him, swelling up to at least _three _times it's size before exploding, releasing little spores everywhere. They were quickly mopped up, having spent several seconds scurrying around, crawling over useless body parts. _Those _were new, he speculated, and needed to have a close eye on them.

Entering one of the smaller warehouses and tunnels, the squadron waded their way through the muck and grime of the Plague, wiping out anything that got in their way. It seemed like the Darkness was throwing everything it had at them, determined to keep them away from their goal. Callixtus got shot at several times although they were simply reflected from his shields and he retaliated by rendering their bodies useless. Their progress was swift and merciless, once more, driving their enemy back, step by step, in a hurricane of fire, bullets, and brute strength; with the additional assistance from the Elites added, they were damn near unstoppable, tearing through the Plague as if they were paper.

Entering the second shipyard, Callixtus spotted the flagship crashed where the field was before turning his attention to the sound of bones breaking and flesh ripping. A behemoth of an infected rose up from the ground, towering over all, swinging it's thick, meaty limbs wildly at them. As intimidating as it was, however, the flesh was still weak and although it bore well to several clips of ammo, it couldn't bear them all, and crashed to the ground with a thunderous cry and vibrated the ground as more infected showed up.

"The Construct," the Arbiter suddenly uttered. "She is within the ship." Construct? Cortana, mayhaps? Callixtus looked over at the ship, subconsciously rubbing his shoulder as the Light pulsed, the glow steadily getting brighter in response to the heavy presence of the Darkness. He recalled her being on the space city; she couldn't have transferred herself to a flagship, could she?

_I'm getting a signal from inside the ship. _Ghost announced suddenly, apparently having heard the news as well. _It's very faint but I can detect it. Could be her._

_Thank you for your input._ Callixtus muttered as he kicked away a spore before turning and shooting at the chest of an infected Human. _What are the chances of it being her?_

_Likely. Not very high but there's a good chance. I'm unsure of how the AIs here work but she could have possibly transferred her data to a portable pad. I've heard of AIs with the capability of being able to travel from network to network and she's considered one of the most advanced. Perhaps._

_Hm. Very well. Thank you._

_Any time, Guardian._ As the Ghost disappeared to do Traveller-knows-what, Callixtus watched as another heavyset infected appeared, combated by the Master Chief who bombarded it with a heavy chaingun he happened to be carrying. Distracted with that, Callixtus focused on the little things, shooting at infected that attempted to run, chasing the spores, and causing pre-mature decomposition on mounds of corpses being grounded by the Elites and the Arbiter.

Throwing a lightning grenade into a particularly large crowd of the Plague, Callixtus listened in satisfaction when he heard the familiar pulses of the grenade followed by the chain of lightning and the smell - although retching - of burning flesh filling the air once more. More shrieks of indignation filled the air and more infected arrived, the Elites roaring challenges towards them in return as they greeted the oncoming Plague with powerful strikes and precision shooting. Callixtus joined the fray effortlessly, twisting and turning and leaping about as he switched between his Invective and Syzygy, his Ghost occasionally supplying him with ammunition packs.

Stepping onto the flesh of the ship, the Arbiter announced that he and his Elites would be remaining the surface to make sure that the Plague didn't leave the facility, leaving the Titan and Master Chief to delve into the ship alone. Better to be safe than sorry, if that's how the saying went, the Guardian mused as they ran along the length of the ship, stepping in the occasional spore.

The presence of the Darkness was ancient and powerful as if it were one of its sources; Callixtus supposed he shouldn't be shocked if it did turn out to be but he was learning new things by the hour so why the fuck not? The past was a strange place so might as well make it a little stranger and more confusing. History was fascinating after all.

Reaching the top of the ship, they stared down into a Plague-made entrance before jumping down it, the flesh of the Plague softening their landing as they made their way through fleshy tunnels. Despite the filters, Callixtus could still smell the scent of rotten flesh, sickness, and poison in the area, having to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from gagging.

As they approached a curve in the tunnel, Callixtus paused when he felt his vision blur, green filling the edges as a low, raspy voice filled his mind.

_Do not fear me for I am the salvation from your torture._

Callixtus blinked rapidly to clear his mind before giving a passing glance at the Master Chief.

"Heard that too?" The Human asked quietly, seemingly relieved that he wasn't the only one hearing voices as they forged ahead, stopping to pick up Arc blades that were satisfyingly at full charge.

Dropping down another hole, they landed in some coolant, the room was spacious with giant, pulsing spores clinging to the walls, the occasional purple peaking out from beneath the flesh. The two made a point of not touching the swollen spores, not wanting to know what happened when they came into close contact although they both had a pretty good hint as to what would happen.

As they passed through a tunnel and entered another spacious room, Callixtus's vision narrowed once more, the voice vibrating within his mind but faint and seemingly far away. Ghost was putting up mental barriers. The words, however, still rang out crystal clear,

_Let our powers combine! We will be an unstoppable force, we will be immortal. **Everlasting**!_

Shaking his head to clear his mind up again, he assisted Ghost in putting up stronger mental barriers while he and the Master Chief approached an cerulean device which blinked lazily. When the Master Chief activated it, Cortana's avatar appeared, glitching and lagging momentarily before looking up at the Human.

"Chief!" The AI exclaimed, causing the super-soldier to twitch, almost perking up at her voice.

"Cortana?" He asked hopefully, reaching out to her.

"High Charity, the Prophet's holy city, is on its way-" her voice cut out as she glitched back into the module disappearing. Evidently distressed, the Chief leaned forward, calling out her name once more but didn't get to draw her out.

"Maybe I can help," Ghost chirped from Callixtus's helmet. The Titan held out his left hand, allowing the small being to appear and float forward, a small beam of azule light appearing on the module. Ghost chirped and whistled, his pieces twirling idly as a dropship appeared from above. Callixtus and the Master Chief fell into a slight crouch, readying their weapons as they stared at the dropship, waiting for it to drop more aliens or the Plague.

Instead, a large silver orb with a glowing, cornflower optic-lens floated in a downwards spiral, humming gently to itself. Judging by how tense the Master Chief was, Callixtus figured that there weren't any good interactions with this particular AI in the past.

"Reclaimer!" It said in a synthesized male's voice cheerfully as if surprised and please. A loud snarl sounded behind Callixtus and the two soldiers turned in time to see the AI fire a powerful laser at an approaching infected ape.

"Hardlight laser, _nice_," Ghost complimented idly. The AI dipped in appreciation before approaching Cortana's module. "Whoa, hey, get away from her!" A blue shield appeared around the module just as the AI tried to grab it.

"I must act quickly!" the AI explained quickly as the Master Chief tried to drag it away from the module. "Before the Construct suffers anymore damage!"

"I've got it from here, _thanks_."

"A Construct of your-oh?" The AI paused, a white light going over Ghost which prompted Callixtus to drag the little light away from the glowing ball, cradling the Ghost in his arm with a low growl. "A Construct of your model? That must mean-oh, absolutely splendid!" The same light roamed over Callixtus before closing in on his wound. "One of my Makers has been reborn! This is a terrific development!"

It approached Callixtus, mere inches from the Titan's face, "I am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04! I request that we head someplace safer in order to make repairs to the Construct."

"On Halo," the Master Chief spoke up, anger tinging his voice, "you tried to _kill_ Cortana! You tried to kill _me_!" Spark turned to face the Human, retaliating simply,

"Protocol dictated my response. She had the activation Index and you were going to _destroy _my installation." It got relatively close to the super-soldier's face and said cryptically, "You _did _destroy my installation. Now I have only one function: to assist my Maker and his Reclaimers. As I always should've done." It faced Callixtus who still glared at the AI, Ghost still in his arms.

The Master Chief stared at Guilty Spark before looking over at Callixtus, his judging gaze roaming over the Titan's battered form, lingering slightly on the Ghost before he turned to the AI and let it take hold of the module. As it flew up towards the dropship, an anti-gravity well appeared, taking the two soldiers up into its bay and to yet another strange place.

Callixtus looked down at his Ghost and let him go, letting the little light take its place over his shoulder.

"I don't like him," Ghost grumbled simply.

The Guardian stared outside the dropship, watching as two flagships dragged golden lasers across the floor of the facility and the area surrounding it. 'Glassing' is what the Master Chief called it, literally turning the area into molten glass and killing all who got into its path, rendering the area barren and lifeless.

_-the Abyss will gaze back into you._

* * *

><p>Ghost was notably smaller while it floated idly beside Guilty Spark as the two of them worked on fixing the module. Callixtus was tense; he didn't trust this AI despite saying that it served him. How did it know what he was? And what Ghost was? Did the Forerunners make it? Possibly, but how could it know about the Seekers? The Ghosts? It seemed to be oblivious to the Partriarchs, however.<p>

"Can it be saved?" The Elite sitting in the chair above the holo-map, the Shipmaster, asked as the two continuously pressed their working beams to it.

"Uncertain," Guilty Spark replied almost immediately. "This storage containment unit has suffered considerable trauma."

"Perhaps one of _our _technicians-" Lord Hood began to suggest, only to be interrupted by the Shipmaster.

"That will not be necessary."

"It'll be laggy. Glitchy. But it'll work," the Ghost answered smoothly, giving a more optimistic side to the news just as Cortana popped out of the module once more.

_"Chief, High Charity, the Prophet's holy city, is on its way to Earth. With an army of _Flood_. I can't tell you everything. It's not safe. The Gravemind. It knows I'm in the system._" Her avatar glitched, pausing momentarily, allowing the Master Chief to say reluctantly,

"It's just a message."

"Let it play," the Shipmaster suggested as Guilty Spark adjusted the module.

"_But it doesn't know about the portal _or _the Guardian, where it leads, who and _what _he is. On the other side, there's a solution, a _way _to stop the Flood without firing the remaining Halo rings. The Ark._" She let out a cry of pain, clutching her head as she fell to the ground. "_And the Guardian...he's **Forerunner**. If that Ark doesn't work, then the Guardian may be our last chance. The Gravemind can't know about him. Hurry, Chief, there isn't much time..._"

"I'm sorry," Guilty Spark said softly.

"No matter, Oracle," the Shipmaster murmured, turning his gaze from the module to Callixtus, everyone following his gaze to lock onto the still form in the shadow behind the Master Chief. "The Construct says that you are Forerunner. Is this true?" Callixtus tilted his head to the side a little bit, folding his arms behind his back indifferently.

"Yes," the Ghost answered, flying up to the Guardian. "A partial truth. He's only half."

"Then what's the other half?" Keyes asked, stepping forward, looking at Callixtus up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.

"They were called Patriarchs. Extinct now. As far as I can tell, my Guardian is the only one." A partial truth but they couldn't necessarily risk the truth just yet; it'd be too wild, too unbelievable.

"And where have you been this entire time?" It was a near snap now but they didn't flinch. Instead, Ghost answered enigmatically,

"Lost. In time." There was a sinking silence that filled the room before Ghost continued, "Look, let's get this straight, we're not going to betray you or anything if that's what you're wondering. These Halos are a big mistake and, quite frankly, we don't feel like dying again. You need our help, we're right here, ready to go, just give us the word. Need Forerunner magic? Boom! My Guardian's there! He'll probably just twiddle his fingers or send me out to do something."

"Then we're going through the portal," the Shipmaster remarked smoothly, redirecting the conversation to the situation at hand. "We'll be chasing after the Brutes and that bastardized Prophet, Truth!" The Elites on the bridge roared in agreement as Lord Hood sighed, adding,

"Aye, I suppose so. We'll remain here, hold out as long as we can."

"Did you not hear? Your world is burning. The Flood is there, even the smallest contamination can infect millions."

"And _you_, Shipmaster, just glassed half a _continent_! Maybe the Flood is all I should be worried about."

"Perhaps," Ghost chirped, twirling it's pieces, "but this Covenant is a rather large threat. While both reek of an ancient Darkness, the Covenant's intellect will get them everywhere faster. Granted it's your homeplanet but would you trade Earth for a superweapon? Irregardless whether my Guardian could stop it or not? Also," it flew down to Cortana's module, "Cortana's plan and information-"

"Cortana?" Hood interrupted. "Did you see her condition? How damaged she is? She could be corrupted for all we know." The Master Chief leaned forward, staring at the module as Ghost twirled its pieces, an angry whistle emitting from it. "Her solution could be a Flood trap!"

"We should go through the portal, find out for sure," Keyes stated, her position painstakingly clear.

"What we _should _do, Commander, is _understand_," Hood demanded. "Clearly, that this is Humanity's final stand. Here, at Earth."

"Funny, that's what my Guardian and I thought but then we ended up out of place and out of time on Mars," Ghost inputted sarcastically. Hood glared at the little light, retorting simply, "We go and we risk everything. Every last man, woman, and child. We stand our ground. We might just have a chance."

"We speak from experience, Lord Hood," Ghost stated, flying up to the Human. "Our last stand turned out to be a disaster, ravaged the entire planet save for _one city_. Even then, that city was already weak, we just barely survived. Still, we hang by threads. The only way we were able to survive was to lose bodies but gain information. Should we doubt Cortana then the Grave Plague has already won. Mistakes should be fixed before they're taken in place." Ghost turned towards the Master Chief who gazed back, stating simply,

"I'll find Cortana's solution." He looked over at Lord Hood. "I'll bring it back." Lord Hood made his way over to the super-soldier, looking up at him as he said,

"Earth is all we have left." He gestured over to Cortana's module. "Do you trust Cortana that much?"

"Sir, yes, sir," the Master Chief answered without hesitation.

"This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst, I doubt I'll live long enough to figure it out," Lord Hood deadpanned before gazing at Callixtus. "And you, Guardian, I assume you've got some kind of backup plan worked out here in case it all goes to hell." This was met with a slow nod and the Human nodded in approval before turning and marching off the bridge.

Everyone else eventually filed out, the Ghost disappearing back into Callixtus's mind and Guilty Spark following the Arbiter; they all went into the hangar, the Master Chief and Commander Keyes seeing Lord Hood out while the Arbiter went off, picking up the Humans' weapons as he went. Callixtus followed idly, watching the exchange from afar, watching with slight amusement as the Human notoriously known as Johnson somehow successfully carried multiple weapons twice the size of him over to his soldiers.

Callixtus subconsciously rubbed his shoulder once more when he felt the familiar burn of ships entering the gate. Looking down, he realised that the gash on his shoulder wasn't really a wound or a scar anymore but rather a _mark _revealing his Light and allowing it to react properly to outside sources.

Concentrating on the feeling and Callixtus felt a surge of power course through him, spiking up his senses. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the mark and letting everything else fade into the background; in his mind's eye, he pictured the empty space beside the Master Chief where Commander Keyes previously was. He felt as if his body was gently being taken apart, scattered throughout the wind, and just as quickly, he felt himself being pieced back together.

"What-" The Master Chief's voice rumbled beside him in surprise and the Titan opened to his eyes to see that he had managed to move himself across the hangar and over near the bay doors. He saw the super-soldier looking over at him, head tilted slightly. Callixtus merely gave him a shrug in response, one that said, _I don't know what I'm doing but it worked and no one's dead, _causing the Human to shake his head lightly, descending the ramp and gesturing for the other to follow him.

_Congratulations, you've absorbed some of Atheon's powers._ Callixtus cursed to himself as he strode after the other.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Alright, so there's that. We'll be heading into the Ark and everything will start changing from there hopefully._

_Yes, the mark is an important part of Callixtus. Yes, he'll be having some of Atheon's abilities. No, I won't make him ridiculously OP._

_I've received several messages and yes, Callixtus will die at some point. There's going to be a special something about what happens when he dies and it will be very significant so we'll see him die and be resurrected. It'll most likely be from his point-of-view or maybe the Chief's and then go into his when he dies, I dunno._

_Now it's time for me to go back into premature hibernation for the next two months._

_Questions, comments, concerns, critiques? Leave a review or PM me!_

_Thanks for reading_


	7. VI

_A/N: Alright, here we go. Shit's gonna go down, people. Let's do it._

* * *

><p>The plasteel plating melded easily with what little radiant energy Callixtus had left, fixing the warped armor as well as buffing his greaves and chestplate, significantly raising the durability of the armour. He had joined the Master Chief in the armoury, however, as the other sorted out his equipment, the Guardian had sought to remove his armour entirely to repair the battered piece. Now, he walked around the shell, having chosen a corner of the armoury as soldiers came and went, gathering their gear, occasionally tossing strange glances at the Guardian in the corner; the Master Chief stood off to one side, appearing to be calibrating his armour with the help of several field technicians. He too seemed to be keeping an eye on Callixtus, tossing him sparing glances every now and again but the Titan brushed it off, wholly concentrating on fixing and upgrading his armour with the materials he had on hand.<p>

Callixtus, with the help of his Ghost, brought the beaten armour back to practically what it was before his arrival to this timeline. As the Ghost flew around it, making sure little details of the armour was fixed, calibrating and recalibrating the helmet, Callixtus took some time to lean back and catch his breath. He sat on the floor, legs loosely crossed, running a hand through his abnormally long, dark hair; it was usually a faded cut but over the past year-and-a-half, it had quickly grown out to the point where he actually had to pull up it into a messy gibson tuck or top knot. One day, it was going to kick him in the ass and he knew it.

With a sigh, he ran his hands down his face, fingers running over the familiar scars that he knew every edge of. Granted, he'd never actually _seen _his face as the Guardians believed that vanity would only hinder them but he knew the contours of it, subconsciously tracing his own cheekbone and over his chapped lips; if anything, he knew that his face was gaunt, cheeks hollow and eye tired. Frowning, he reached up and prodded his right eye where the Ghost once described it being milky white, the iris a darker, more silver colour compared to the sclera. Completely and utterly blind. Not that it hindered him. He hadn't actually noticed that he was blind in that eye until one of his fireteam members, Sasha, pointed it out.

Another sigh escaped him at the thought of his fireteam, his friends, and he dropped his hands, looking up as the Ghost spun around the armour before it flashed it's blue beam over it, changing the colour.

"Bright on the eyes," the Ghost commented idly as it switched through the different shaders Callixtus had collected over the years. "It's also really flashy, kind of gives this big 'I'm over here!' sign for everyone else. Let's get something subtle." Callixtus simply grunted in response, leaning forward slightly to tinker with the boots when the shader stopped on a molten-themed color, Sunsetting, a shader that Eris Mourn had given him when he returned an urn full of ashes to her. Traveller-knows-what she did with that. The outer armour was black and varying shades of grey while smaller details, such as the spikes on the elbows of the gauntlets and the under-armour were pulsing a soft, molten orange, reminiscent of the deadly but gentle glow of magma.

"There, try it on. Looks good as new," Ghost eventually stated with a satisfied chirp, twirling it's pieces happily.

With smooth, practised ease, Callixtus manually put the armour pieces on, rolling his shoulders, stretching as he took in the new weight with approving consideration before sealing the helmet. The new amount of Light coursed through him, giving him renewed, boundless energy; he felt stronger, exhilarated, and more aware, bit by bit, he was getting closer to unleashing his full potential as a Guardian and a carrier of the Light. A low rumble of approval escaped him as the Ghost spun around his towering form, taking in all of the data to make sure all of their calibrations were precise and proper.

"With the new upgrades we've implemented, you should be able to gather Super Energy much more quickly, punch and reload faster, and I believe your personal shielding system has been upgraded to hardlight. Anything that comes into contact with it will be electrocuted or...uh, voided, I guess is the way to go around. The extra shield should linger a little while longer too. A good thing we upgraded when we did, as old as they are, this Covenant is ruthless," the Ghost explained, hovering in front of the Guardian's helmet. "I can convert some of their materials into plasteel and if we get enough, I can bolster your armour even more."

Callixtus nodded in approval, walking several laps around the armoury to break in the new feeling the armour gave him.

"I'm also working on either adapting your weapons to compensate for upgraded versions of plasma ammunition or developing hardlight technology altogether. Seeing as the Guilty Spark AI seems fond of you, we could probably get some schematics and speed up the process from several centuries to several weeks or months." The Ghost paused, silent for a moment before making a passing remark, "I don't recall being so...active in a long while. Ever since we stepped out of the timestream. How long has it been? A week at the most? It feels like it's been months." A synthesized sigh met the Titan's ears. "I apologise, Guardian, I didn't mean to ramble. This whole situation is still rather bizarre to me. Sometimes I wonder if it's some unusual vision of yours, that you are simply waiting to be revived but it's too _real_." The Ghost trailed off, humming to itself as the Titan stopped to watch the Master Chief continue to calibrate and test; he was standing on a yellow platform, two metal, magnetic prongs spinning around him, causing the soldier's golden shields to flare before a loud pop filled the air and the shields decharged, the prongs turning red before the shields began recharging once more, shimmering around the super-soldier once before disappearing. The technicians nodded in approval, making passing remarks about the shields as the Master Chief stepped away; the Human was silent, standing in place and staring at seemingly nothing before he subconsciously nodded and a low 'Yes, sir' met Callixtus's ears.

The super-soldier walked over to the racks of weapons, grabbing a long-barreled weapon - a sniper rifle - as well as an assault rifle; Callixtus stared at the weapons, eyes roaming to find something that looked even remotely familiar to what he carried. Eventually, he picked up the burst rifle - Battle Rifle, he reminded himself mentally - and added it with his miniature arsenal; it didn't have the same technology as his other weapons so Ghost couldn't grab for him, making him resort to magnetically attaching it to his backplates along with whatever secondary or special he was going to take out later. Judging by the weapon the Master Chief picked up, Praedyth's Revenge would probably be useful in the long run.

After selecting their weapons, the pair walked back to the hangar bay, climbing aboard one of the dropships with the dark-skinned man Callixtus identified as 'Johnson'. Several Humans were seated in the dropship as well, staring at the Master Chief as the two soldiers climbed in, striding over to the back of the blood tray while door closed. Soon after, the ship shuddered for several seconds followed by a momentary loss of gravity.

There were muffled explosions from outside, indicating aerial firefights as the Pelican bypassed ships and headed towards the atmosphere of the artificial structure below.

_We're on the edge of the galaxy. _Ghost explained suddenly when Callixtus peered through the cockpit of the dropship momentarily, backing away when the Master Chief slid past it to view the sight himself.. _If my calculations are correct then we're where the Reef will be standing in several thousand years. Amazing. I wonder if some of the debris in their queendom is this place. What was it called? The Ark? _

_I remember the Traveler telling me stories about this. I didn't believe that they existed, weapons capable of galactic-wide destruction. Then again, the Patriarchs nearly developed weapons of universal-wide destruction._

_But just imagine that. The fate of an entire galaxy right here._

_The turning point of the century. _Callixtus added grimly as the Master Chief exited the cockpit and grabbed his sniper rifle - appropriately identified as an SRS99C-S2 SM by Ghost -, slapping in the clip and staring at the door of the Pelican which lowered slowly to reveal a desert-like plateau.

"That's some view," a soldier clad in black remarked lightly. Distantly, Callixtus heard Johnson say from the cockpit,

"Enjoy it while you can, Marines, as soon as we land, we're right back to it.

Priority one! Secure a landing zone for the Commander's frigate. Keep your eyes and ears open, we can use all the intel we can get." There was a slight pause and Johnson answered to something heartily, "That too, Marines!"

This was followed by a small war-cry from the surrounding soldiers, sounding like, "Ooh-rah!" or...something.

_What in Speaker's name is a Marine? _Callixtus prodded the question towards the Ghost as he brought Praedyth's Revenge while jumping out of the Pelican with the soldiers and the Master Chief, running along a shaded path up the desert mountain.

_Hrm...it's a creature found in the sea- no, wait. That's not right. _The Ghost paused before speaking up once more. _Oh, here we go. The Marine Corps. is "a member of troops trained to serve at land, sea, air, or vacuum in correlation to the dedication of protecting Earth and all Her colonies." Huh, wonder where I heard that one before._

"Check it out," a soldier - Marine - said, looking up. "Is that-?" Callixtus followed his gaze and rose a brow. He'd seen the galaxy multiple times from a distance since he travelled in and out of the Reef during his off-duty, doing a multitude of services for the Queen but he'd never seen it without the purple haze that decorated the border of the queendom. It looked...different. A little less colourful but with more purity.

"Hey, focus!" Another soldier snapped as they continued along the path, through a small cave tunnel. "We gotta job to do."

They met up with a scout who whispered towards them, mentioning that they had a good angle, giving them altitude and a small advantage over the patrol that awaited them.

Crouching behind one of the small boulders, Callixtus lined up his shot with one of the birds wandering around; he didn't approve of wasted ammo on weak creatures such as that one but it was surrounded by several of the apes and other birds and grunts so he figured he'd take down as much as possible. Once he heard the crack of the Master Chief's sniper rifle, Callixtus's target disappeared in a ball of violet, the bird and the majority of the aliens around it dissipating into the Void.

Several grenades officially started the firefight although the Marines opted to stay where they were so nothing could get behind any sort of cover. They preserved their special ammo, however, taking out their assault and burst rifles, efficiently killing the smaller creatures as the Master Chief and Callixtus focused on the apes. It took several moments for them to realise, though, that a turret was shooting at them until Callixtus felt his shield pop. Looking up in irritation at the small gunner, he popped it's head, frowning at the recoil the weapon had. It was..._strong _to say in the least, almost as bad as the standard pulse rifle; his frown deepened, this would take some getting used to.

Clearing the area didn't take a lot of effort as they were filled mostly with the weaker ranks of the Covenant; the squad climbed down from their vantage point and walked through a tunnel lit by small but powerful lavender lights. Exiting the cave, they spotted a dropship attempting to piece together an AA weapon, the weapon itself simply lacking the head of the turret. Several more dropships lingered, dropping patrols of gold and bright azure apes along with the shielded birds and grunts.

The sniper on the AA weapon's platform was easily taken down followed by the explosion of several plasma coils that resulted in the weaker creatures dying and the familiar stench of singed flesh and ozone filling the air. Some of the crates went flying but none caused any casualties. As the Master Chief and Titan jumped down to engage with the apes, the azure one, apparently the leader as well, threw out a gold, metallic orb and a loud whine filled the air for a moment. Instinctively, the Guardian threw an arm over his face, growling as he was, once more, blinded by the device. Patiently, he backpedaled away, ears straining to hear for anything that could detail the location of an enemy.

Hearing the device explode, he quickly put his arm down and faced the nearest hostile. Diving away from the snarling ape, he fired the burst rifle at its head, succeeding in knocking its helmet off and further pissing it off. Lunging towards it with a snarl and growl of his own, the Titan clawed at the creature's face, scratching out its eye before delivering a hard punch to its temple to daze it. Sweeping its legs from underneath itself while dodging another lunging alien, Callixtus rolled to his feet, pulling out his Invective with his free hand, offing the grounded ape with the burst rifle and deliver a bellyful of fiery kinetic energy into the other. One died instantly and the other howled in fury at its burning innards. Another shot silenced it.

Quickly, Callixtus focused on another target, sweeping the remainders of the patrol while another dropship quickly arrived, firing large plasma bolts at them in hopes they'd be driven away but only made them seek momentary cover, waiting patiently for the ship to leave after emptying its cargo.

"Hunter pair!" A Marine barked, his call emphasized by one of the shielded creatures smashing several boxes and plasma coils away, ignoring the plasma that washed over its armour, unhindered by the heat. The second Hunter trotted behind it lazily before it set sights on the two equally heavily armoured individuals staring at them from behind the rocks. A rod of green plasma greeted them for peeking and they were driven out of their shelter, each one taking on one of their own Hunters.

The first one swung angrily at the Master Chief who disappeared behind a set of boulders, the only sounds leaving the small arena were burst shots, angry growls and roars, and the occasional diffusion of a plasma rod.

The second Hunter fired a second rod of plasma at the Titan who easily rolled out of the way. Grabbing his Invective once more, the Guardian was mindful of the length and reach of the shield this time. Firing several shots to provoke it, Callixtus dived around it just as it lunged forward with a downwards swing on its shield, the strike was powerful, jarring the body and breaking the boulder Callixtus was on moments earlier clean in half. Fire met its backside and the ground was met with an angry shield that shuddered the earth around the Guardian who, instead, rolled underneath the Hunter's outstretched arm and unloaded the majority of his shells into its pink-orange, fleshy backside. It slumped forward with nothing more than a whimper and elicited an angry cry from its sibling who, unbeknownst to the Titan Guardian, turned to face - from behind the boulder and ignoring the Chief entirely - the killer of its sibling and charged forward, dismissing the Master Chief, and broke through the large boulder that separated it and Callixtus.

It fired a rod of green plasma at the Titan's feet who instinctively dived out of the way and thinking he was out of danger, out of the raging beast's path, and realised with wide eyes that he damned well fell for it. The beast set him up to roll directly into it's path of vengeance and the Guardian paid dearly for it.

When the shield connected with his body, he felt his head snap back - perhaps his neck cracked, too - and maybe even several bones break underneath the harsh pressure. He flew backwards and into the leg of the AA weapon, body colliding harshly with it and surely cracking him even further. He couldn't even get a noise of pain out as he fell to the ground with a harsh thud.

He knew why, had it happen before when he squared off with a Colossus several years ago.

That first strike had killed him.

It was painless as it was the last time he was killed, nothing necessarily _new _to him. As his body met the ground in a cloud of dust, he saw the panicked stance of the Master Chief before the super-soldier regained his composure, angrily firing at the behemoth before throwing a glowing grenade at it. It was as if the world was submerged in water, everything was sluggish and Callixtus could even watch as the creature blew up in slow motion.

In the corner of his eye, he saw the Master Chief rushing towards him just as the Ghost appeared, hovering above his breathless, lifeless body, small diamond-like shell calmly explaining the situation to the approaching soldiers and preventing them from moving his corpse as he passed off into peaceful oblivion.

* * *

><p><em>Waking in the Other side was always unnerving, no matter how many times he had gone through it. He pushed himself off the ground where his body would be laying, walking around the frozen forms of his new comrades, all who gazed at his corpse. The Master Chief was crouched before him, reaching out as if to pick him up. Looking away at the scene and to where his Ghost would be, there instead was a small sparkle of Light pointing to a trail that led through the caves behind his comrades.<em>

_With practised ease, he climbed over and around the rocks, being careful not to touch those who had not passed into the Other side._

_As he strolled through the caves, he looked around at the sprouting, glowing nature. Vines protruding from the walls and trees usually dead in the real world bloomed profusely with silver and gold leaves. The cliffs and rocks sparkled underneath the azure-silver sun cast upon them, the crystals chiming in the air softly._

_Not all was right, however, these sights he was indeed used to but he felt the presence of another, someone else in the Other; looking around cautiously, his eyes fell upon a humanoid form on a distant cliff, watching him intently. He couldn't tell who or what it was but he did know that they didn't belong; as soon as he spotted it, however, he blinked and it was gone. A frown fell upon his face as he continued along the sparkled path, was someone intruding in his version of the Other? It unnerved him at the thought of someone inside his mind; he needed to get down to this as soon as possible, maybe discuss anything unusual with his mental capacity as soon as he was revived._

_He walked underneath colourful flowers that sang happy greetings and through the shadows they cast, words scrawled upon the ground, words that he'd seen before and were repeated constantly._

**The Monument of your Sins shall rule all. **

_Once he reached the edge of the path, he dived into the Shores of Time and swam down, deep, deep down towards the bottom where it shone and rippled, never reaching the point where he was gasping for breath; reaching out, his hand broke through the surface and his whole world tilted, throwing him out of the Shores._

_The water receded from his body, crawling back to the Shores as he got to his feet and looked around; immediately, he recognised the Black Garden, devoid of Vex and in all of its untimely, displaced glory but as he walked through the Gate leading to the Black Heart, he, instead, walked into the final resting place of Atheon. The Time's Conflux. He looked at the empty Timegates and the empty halls leading to nowhere, and at the empty plates. The only thing that wasn't empty was the centre of the Conflux._

_Peeking out of the ground, on a single, strong stem, sat a black flower in the shape of his Ghost. A single yellow stripe ran vertically down it and the Light glowed softly from the middle, travelling through the stem and giving it small pulses every now and then._

_This was not new, this was something he was used to, having done it twice before. He would pluck the flower from its delicate stem and then he would return to the living, leaving the Other side behind once more._

_What was new was what stood behind it._

_It stood with its arms at its sides, staring at him through the elegantly carved helmet. It wore robes reminiscent to the ones who defeated Crota and donned a shader that Eris Morn carried. A bright yellow fusion rifle was strapped to its back along with a deadly-looking sniper rifle. Looking down at its hands, they pulsed softly with Void and Solar energy, the magic sparking and jumping around its fingertips._

_A Guardian. A Warlock._

_Callixtus knew who it was, they were a part of his fireteam but _why _couldn't he **remember**?_

_"We are connected, you and I," the Warlock stated softly. The voice was synthesized, echoing gently and musically around the hollow area. It was undefined and came from everywhere yet nowhere at once. "The Time's Conflux does not come without a price, Callixtus. It is a weapon of Darkness so you are infected with Darkness. It upsets the balance within you and now Atheon and I only exist within your mind."_

_"Ephesians," Callixtus breathed, remembering the Warlock's name, memories of the fireteam member flooding back into his mind once more, satisfyingly so. At first, he was relieved to see his partner but then remembered that he was in the Other side. That could only mean one thing. "How did you get here? I sent you all out."_

_"I came back for you, wanted to wait, maybe help too, so I could drag your sorry ass out if you didn't get erased. In case you didn't die. That would be awful."_

_"There are worse things than dying."_

_"I suppose we're living those 'worse things' then."_

_"You got sent back too? Or erased?" Ephesians-44 looked over at one of the empty Gates before looking back at the Titan, the magic on their hands seemingly getting significantly brighter at the question._

_"Something like that. I've been here for Traveler knows how long. Feels like years. You've got an interesting Side. I was supposed to be erased but something's keeping me tethered here, letting you remember me. If you find whatever it is then maybe you can resurrect me, if my Ghost survived." The Exo Warlock sighed quietly before continuing, "Anyways, that's not why I'm talking to you. I wanted to warn you about the Conflux. Like I said, it's a weapon of Darkness but not only that, it holds a portion of Atheon. As long as you have it's power, it's going to be in here too. I've been fending it off for quite a while but what I want to say is that the longer and more often you use the Conflux under the influence of the Darkness, the faster it'll weaken you."_

_"Is there a way we can prevent this?" Callixtus frowned underneath the helmet, this was certainly perplexing news and he was glad he hadn't used the ability often yet._

_"If you die by the Conflux, you'll die permanently because the Darkness will have taken over your entire system. You'll take the Conflux with you. Atheon was muttering something about wiping out the Golden Age if you die, too, but I don't know._

_Point is, we need to turn that Conflux into a weapon of Light."_

_"How exactly?"_

_"Another thing we need to figure out. I'm guessing that if I can purge Atheon from the Other side then it'll be easier for your Light to fight back and put your system back into balance."_

_"If you purge Atheon then we'll be sending it back out into the real world."_

_"Another impasse but if we could defeat it _permanently_ and _properly_ then maybe it'll be worth doing. Another way we could go about is finding another source of Light. This time period doesn't seem like it's been influenced enough by the Light or the Darkness for a proper dosage, though." Ephesians stepped around the flower to place a hand on Callixtus's shoulder. "Converting the Conflux is going to take some effort for you, if you ever need to use it, you'll need to concentrate on drawing power from your Light rather than letting it use the Darkness. Granted, it'll leave you mite exhausted for a bit but it'll convert it and start pushing out the Darkness._

_After that, who knows? Maybe you'll start commanding entire armies of Precursor Vex!" The two chuckled softly, the noise ringing gently around the area before fading off deeper into the Other side._

_A low whir interrupted their brief moment of peace and mirth, causing them to look towards the entrance where the silhouette of a Vex Ultra began making it's way from the Gorgon's Labyrinth._

_"Shit, it's found you," the Exo growled, muttering curses under their breath. "You need to leave_ now_!"_

_Without hesitation, Callixtus turned and plucked the black-and-yellow flower from its stem. Upon leaving the stem, the flower let out a loud whine - accompanied by the roar of the Vex as it picked up its pace, Atheon coming into view - followed by the growing glow of Light. The wind picked up as the whine turned into a low roar as if someone were banging multiple instruments together, the sound clashing harshly against the crisp air._

_He was about to step through when he hesitated, turning to look over at Ephesians who was beginning to step down and towards the Vex Ultra. The Titan reached out, grabbing the Exo Warlock by the wrist, causing the other to look at him in surprise._

_"I can't leave with you, Cal!" Ephesians barked over the roar of the portal. "I don't have a body and if I leave, it'll kill you!"_

_"Like fuck it will!" Callixtus retorted loudly, the pure light's force keeping the Vex at bay. "It's all in my head, right? The only reason it's still around is because I remember it, yeah? And because of the Conflux? If I time it correctly, I can transfer Light reviving into the Conflux and begin the balance; that bastard won't know what hit it! It will be too weak to fight back!"_

_"You're batshit crazy!" Ephesians all but screamed but let themself be dragged into the portal anyways._

_"Understatement!" A loud roar shook the Vault as the two were teleported back to Callixtus's body, colour bleeding into the world around them._

* * *

><p>The Light launched the Titan to his feet, reforming his body seamlessly, painlessly as he breathed in a sigh of relief. Cries of confusion and fear rang around him as the Master Chief himself stepped back in surprise, reaching for his weapon before realizing that the man before him wasn't possessed or any other kind of superstitious act. Merely resurrected.<p>

"You died," it was more a statement than anything and the Titan merely nodded. The Master Chief looked over at the Ghost who hovered appreciatively over the Guardian's shoulder, whistling absentmindedly. "Explain."

As if on cue, the small diamond AI flew forward, eye flickering as it hovered several inches from the golden faceplate, blue light reflecting ever so slightly.

"I hold a portion of his Light," it explained simply, chirping. "Guardians are made out of Light. If it is not extinguished then they simply need to find the Light within the confines of their dying mind. A stabilizer to prevent mental damage. Find the Light, I can revive him."

"This..." a new voice interrupted them casually, synthesized and echoing slightly, "this is new. Slightly disturbing."

They spun around, their weapons ready, only to be greeted with the faint outline of a humanoid who was staring at their hands; the left one glowed softly with Solar energy while the other hand glowed with Void energy. Callixtus had seen this happen before, Guardians didn't spawn into the area correctly from their ship, all that was there was a green outline. Sometimes, all they had to do was reenter the ship and exit it again; sometimes, it required more than that. Callixtus never had the problem before so he never bothered with it.

"Guardian Ephesians-44?" The Ghost asked, scanning the outlined Exo. "What're _you _doing here?"

"I am a figment of _his _imagination," the Warlock pointed at Callixtus. "And he dragged me out of the Other side because we think that there's something keeping me from entering the Void and passing out of memory and mind." They lowered their arm when they spotted the Master Chief standing beside Callixtus, staring down at the Exo behind the placid faceplate that glinted in the starlight. "Ooh, is this the Human you two talk about?"

The Master Chief looked over at Callixtus and the Ghost as the Exo strode forward, silently demanding an explanation but only received a gesture that read 'Don't question it yet'.

Tentatively, Ephesians reached out to touch the armour but their hands, instead, went straight through the Human's chest. The area fell deathly silent before a Marine spoke up,

"Sir, there's a...um-" The Master Chief looked down at Ephesians. The situation didn't seem to elicit a reaction from him.

"Um. This is a new development."

"We need to move along," the Master Chief eventually rumbled, turning away from the stunned group and marching up a path up the side of the opposite cliff.

"This is going to take some getting used to," Ephesians remarked lamely as they fell into step with Callixtus. Experimentally, the Exo reached out and successfully touched the corpse of a dead ape and then tried to touch the Marine closest to them but merely passed through the Human. "So I can only touch things that aren't alive. Fantastic. I'm dead. Amazing. You and your Ghost better find me a body or my Ghost so it can get me a body."

Continuing up the path, they cleared the area of a small patrol of grunts before entering a small room in the cave; entering it led into a small hallway, two doors sitting on the left side and Covenant panels to the right. Entering the room on the left, they found a small console that glowed softly; upon activating it, a screen popped up along with a wall of text and, although the symbols were foreign, they easily translated in Callixtus's mind before they translated into the commontongue.

_Observed extensive ground action on [LP 656-38 e]. 9,045 survivors barricaded within central government building. Structure's defenses inadequate to withstand extended siege by enemy ground forces (≈ 1,572,034,315+). Estimate position overrun in [173 hours]._

_846 smaller groups in less defensible structures; global distribution corresponding to [probability model zeta]. Estimated local position overrun in [9 hours] (average)._

_Observed local naval forces engage enemy irregular naval group near [DM-3-1123]. Enemy group consisted of 149 commercial shipping vessels, passenger ferries, and private recreational vessels from neighboring system. Enemy losses were total. No damage was sustained by local naval vessels._

_However, it was immediately apparent that the enemy group sought only to enter [DM-3-1123 b's] atmosphere and make landfall. In this they were partially successful._

_Observed extensive ground action on [DM-3-1123 b]. Enemy forces lacked basic unit cohesion but quickly gained numerical superiority. [32 hours] after enemy landfall 83% of local naval forces advocated total[destruction of the biosphere] following the evacuation of unmolested population centers. Enemy losses were total._

_Estimated number of citizens evacuated before commencement of orbital blanket bombardment: 1,318,797 civilian / 42,669 military (.0006% of total population)._

Activating it once more revealed another wall of text, only for the entire system to change into a violent red that blinked rapidly, the words disappearing only to be replaced by another set. This time, they were being typed out.

_You cannot escape from me, Guardians._

_We are connected, you and I._

_We are not figments of your imagination._

_The Conflux will consume you and you will be a product of Darkness. _

_You will die and I will live on, superiour, and with the power of Time coursing through me. It will be my blood and it will be your grave._

_Your Warlock cannot save you now. Your Light cannot save you. No one can save a mortal from spiralling into the depths of an everlasting insanity._

_And your Titan is all but killing himself. He will die a painful and slow death and be confined to the tortures of our reigning Darkness. The Light will perish by his foolishness._

_I am freed and I will find you._

_I cannot be confined._

_Time has made you and it will break you, Guardians._

**_For I am the Monument to all your_**_** Sins**._

And then it closed down completely, the hologram disappearing and the entire system shutting down completely, leaving the soldiers stare at it before looking at each other. It was more than unnerving and very disturbing but they had no time to dwell on it.

Grabbing their weapons, they exited the room and walked out onto a plateau where stranded Marines seemed to be awaiting them, their backs to them as a flaming longsword flew fast and low, crashing somewhere in the distance, the ground rumbling from the initial explosion.

The soldiers quickly formed up with the others, greeting them cheerily, giving Ephesians a passing glance, who just glared at them all before staring blankly in the distance, standing rigid before they reached for the fusion rifle on their back, beginning to backpedal away.

"Oh, fuck _me,_ there's Gorgons in here," was all the Warlock said before they let out a strangled yell and seemingly disappeared from view, their form fading entirely.

_Your neural activity just spiked, _Ghost reported suddenly. _I think Ephesians is back in your head. Fighting Gorgons. Why are they fighting Gorgons in the Other side?_

_Probably to distract them. _Callixtus replied worryingly. _I have a feeling I fucked up._

_How so?_

_Atheon might have escaped the Other side when I tried to convert the Conflux, somehow escaped through the portal or some other. And it's most likely messing with Time or forming an alliance with this Covenant while simultaneously making another Precursor Vex army. One in my head to keep Ephesians busy and another out here. To fight us. We could all die because it stupidly killed everything in the entire galaxy. This is awful._

_That_ does _sound terrible. _There was a slight pause as the squad cleared the area of grunts and a lingering ape. _I bet you two hundred glimmer that we'll see Vex._

_What are you going to do with all that glimmer?_

_I was just trying to lighten the mood. _Another pause as they watched the Master Chief pick up a rocket launcher and shoot out the entire content of what looked to be some kind of sand prowler. All the aliens died without a sound and the vehicle was, miraculously, still intact, perfect for driving. The super-soldier turned sharply and reacted quickly enough just as another one of the prowlers appeared over the dunes and, once more, all its occupants were obliterated but the vehicle remained intact.

_I see your two hundred and raise you five._

_You're on._

Callixtus waited patiently as the Master Chief got the Marines accompanying them situated, giving one of the prowlers to them before climbing onto the other. Without waiting to be told, the Guardian climbed into the turret as a soldier wielding one of the many rocket launchers took a seat on the side of the prowler before they took off smoothly over the dunes, heading to towards the crashed longsword.

_Ghost, if you can, see if you can find Ephesians. Integrate them into the neural net, I need to know what's going on._

_Working on it._

Several vehicles awaited them - identified as 'Choppers' if the way that Marine screamed at it was any indication - and began to lay fire on the two sand prowlers that appeared from over the hills of sand, spikes digging deep into the grey metal as the Humans returned fire. A small firefight ensued in the small valley as the Choppers and orchid hover-vehicles whipped around them, plasma and spikes being exchanged between the two factions as they sped around each other in tiring circles before one of the hover-vehicles seemed to have a slip in the controls and accidentally drove into one of the Choppers while simultaneously shooting it on accident.

Everything spiraled downwards for the Covenant from there: the Chopper, turning out to be a mighty delicate vehicle, practically exploded upon impact and the debris proceeded to wipe out one other Chopper, leaving a lone grunt who practically submitted to inevitable defeat.

Callixtus furrowed a brow as they mopped up the patrol that hung around the downed longsword, _How could someone mess up **that badly**?_

After several minutes of poking around the wreckage, the squad moved on when they saw that there were no survivours, some soldiers stopping to pick up the tags of the fallen and jumping into a Warthog that sat several feet away.

Driving over the dunes, they came across a downed Phantom with several of the birds and grunts lingering around it, waiting for evac. One of the Marines strategically shot at the plasma coils the squatters had gathered, effectively finishing off the Phantom and the not-so-problematic enemies, earning shouts of approval from her comrades.

They came across an open area with a bridge leading into the cliff above it, several Choppers drove off the bridge and into the clearing below to engage the two enemy vehicles. Dealing with them wasn't a hassle and they made their way up to the bridge, bumping over several grunts before crossing the bridge itself.

On one end of the bridge sat a turret and a golden ape while on the other there was a large door with a giant, floating sentry shooting a hardlight beam at the turret. The light easily melted the metal casing protecting the small creature hiding behind it who shrieked just as the weapon below up while the Marines effectively took matters into their own hands and drove into the golden alien. The alien howled as it flew back and into the air, smashing into the rocks on the other side of the area, the sound of its bones cracking audible in the falling silence.

"Oh, nice work, Hernandez," a Marine complimented as several more of the sentry drones appeared from small hatches on the sides of the large doorway.

A Pelican lowered from the sky, seeming out of nowhere, with Johnson on a turret in the blood tray. Several unheard words were exchanged and then the Master Chief drove off the bridge and began following the Pelican as it flew off, heading down into a crevice between a different bridge and the cliff wall that surrounded them. Several choppers were disposed of as they climbed the dunes, coming across an offensive party of Covenant attempting to suppress a platoon of Marines hiding in an alcove nearby. As the majority of the vehicles were commandeered by the weaker creatures, getting rid of the party wasn't too much trouble and they received cheers of appreciation from the rescued Marines who promptly began gathering their weapons and ammo, piling into the vehicles they managed to save.

"LZ is through the cave, sir!" One Marine exclaimed as they drove past. "Watch yourself, got Covenant heavy armour!"

Passing through the small cave, they broke out into a cliff side where a mortar-based tank awaited them accompanied by two anti-airs. The mortar tank appeared to have been waiting for them and a giant arch of plasma flew towards them, hitting the front of a Warthog and causing the Marines to yelp as they flew out of the destroyed vehicle.

They leapt out of the way of tank and ran off towards the spire of rocks where several patrols were camped out, deciding to leave the heavy-vehicle fighting for those who actually had vehicles.

Callixtus pushed himself out of the turret and hung onto the edge as he lowered his incompetently large body on the other side of the prowler, being careful not to make the vehicle tip over by dropping his full weight onto it at once. Slowly, he set himself on the curved plate, pulling out his rocket launcher just as the mortar tank blew up under the strain of plasma and chain-gun fire. Heading towards the anti-airs, they just barely dodged the green plasma fired at them; leaning out, Callixtus aimed down the sights and waited until he heard the familiar erratic beeping signalling that he had a lock on target.

The rocket flew towards the anti-air tank but it just barely dodged the explosive. However, the rocket turned, making a wide berth and slamming into the vehicle in the backside, straight into the engine. Smaller rockets burst out of the initial explosive, impacting the mangled tank and providing an even larger explosive as the burning aliens inside howled in pain.

"I've heard of rocket lanuchers being able to track its target but _what the fuck_?" The Marine on the other side of the Chief's prowler asked incredulously as he let his own pair of rockets loose on the other anti-air. The Master Chief and the Guardian stayed quiet as the prowler turned sharply, allowing Callixtus to gain a clear shot on the next anti-air, the rocket impacting on the hull of the tank.

"Daaamn," another soldier whistled appreciatively, "that thing is _history_."

As the area settled, the Master Chief began backing the prowler away from the cliff side just as a soldier pointed at the sky, exclaiming, "Look! Up high! Here she comes!" Following the Human's gaze, Callixtus watched with wide eyes as the frigate began her descent, the wind picking up and blowing back debris and entire vehicles as it docked above the area. He felt the prowler shift, getting blown back with the other vehicles as soldiers whooped in appreciation before the erratic wind settled and the Master Chief along with the others joined below the ship, watching as several platforms were lowered, revealing more Warthogs, Mongooses, and a few tanks.

_That's a nice vehicle. _Ghost whistled in appreciation as the Master Chief quickly claimed one for his own, Callixtus opting to ride on the tread's armour to the right, followed by the Marine from the prowler. _Those things could probably take out a Walker if they were fast enough._

As the miniature armada moved forward, Callixtus took out Hawkmoon, once realising that a super-soldier in a tank was practically unstoppable, and set to picking off ground troops or anything that peeked its skull out of its vehicle; backtracking through the cave, they met up with one of the prowlers and disposed of one Covenant-controlled one. When the tank blew apart a trio of the orchid hover-vehicles, the Marine next to him cheered happily, "Tank beats Ghosts!"

_Oh, so that's what those things are called. _Ghost stated icily. _Fantastic._

Entering the cave, they came across a pair of Hunters which were quickly blasted away followed up with the same soldier saying, "Tank beats Hunters!" Immediately, the tank's large turret swung around to shoot at the azure dropship, four rounds succeeding in blowing the vehicle up, eliciting a cry, "Tank beats _everything_! Oh, man, I could do this all day!"

As they travelled back to the bridge, the Covenant stood no chance against the trio of tanks and barrage of endless rockets - Callixtus was more careful in using his sparingly however - and the ride back proved rather _uneventful _and _unchallenging_.

"All armour, form up on the lower level!" A Marine eventually called out as they approached the bridge. "Chief, get upstairs and have those little robots pick that lock!"

"I beg your pardon!" Guilty Spark stated as it flew alongside the Master Chief's tank. "I am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04!"

_Still a robot. _Ghost muttered before it appeared over Callixtus's shoulder, wholly ready to face whatever mechanism barred their way.

"Yeah, well, you and the little diamond are also our tickets through this wall." Ghost's eye fluttered as it twirled it's pieces in deep thought before chirping,

"Interesting that they refer to me as a diamond. I'd say 'perforated or warped cube'."

"If you two don't mind-" The Marine continued irritatingly.

"I would gladly pave the Reclaimers' progress," Guilty Spark remarked as Ghost murmured, "Yeah, sure, anything for my Guardian."

As the orb flew off, Ghost drifted away from Callixtus, saying, "I'll go follow him and see what I can get about how this place works."

The Guardian stared at it, roughly shaking his head, prompting the Ghost to lightly nudge the other.

"Promise I won't die. I have no one else to take my glimmer when I win that bet." This got Callixtus to swat at the small AI who merely laughed and flew off after Guilty Spark as the tank rolled onto the bridge, bodies crunching underneath the heavy treads. Some mortar tanks barred the way, a dropship flying off as Covenant swarmed through and around the barriers set up to keep the Humans out.

As the tank rolled over the smoldering remains of the Covenant and their tank, Callixtus watched as Guilty Spark and Ghost worked on the door, seeming to be conversing quietly. The Titan and the Master Chief climbed off the tank and towards the door, waiting patiently for the two to finish.

"Ah, there we are," Spark said suddenly as the door soon lifted open. "Please, follow me." Entering the facility, Spark hummed to itself as led the Humans down the hall where a small sentry drone appeared from a small hatch in the wall. Callixtus stared at it curiously, Ghost running scans over it before returning to its place over the Guardian's shoulder.

"Interesting," Ghost murmured. "It appears that they're armed with hardlight lasers. I didn't know that these weapons have even been developed at this time! If we could get one of those then we could decode dozens of engrams the Cryptarchs have accumulated over the years!" After a moment's pause, the small AI added as an afterthought, "Maybe Master Rahool will stop giving everyone such obsolete weapons too."

Absentmindedly, the Ghost set to work on unlocking the small door the squad stopped in front of, opening it in record time before Guilty Spark had time to give it a go. Entering a large area, Callixtus peered over the edge and spotted the vehicles waiting for a bridge below and below that, an abyssal end. Spark guided the Master Chief and Titan over to a set of controls, remarking that one of them should activate the bridge.

Callixtus watched, this time a little unimpressed, as a hardlight bridge appeared.

"Excellent," Spark stated happily, flying off once more, "this way!" Entering another, smaller room, they spotted a pile of scrapped sentries although when Ghost did a scan on them, they were utterly useless and didn't provide much information much to the AI's dismay.

Another set of doors opened, leading outside, and revealing a tall, intricate, pointed structure in the distance, hanging over a cliff where - on the other side - stood a body of water which fell into a long waterfall into something dark below. Peering down once more, the soldiers watched as the heavy armour exited the facility as well just as the ground rumbled.

Callixtus jumped, pulling the Ghost away, just as an armoured, spindly leg landed right next to him, rocketing him into the air momentarily. Another synthetic-organic had appeared and seemed to be heading towards the clearing in front of the structure. The small AI uncharacteristically spewed a string of curses in surprise as it disappeared back into Callixtus's mind.

_I think I'll let you handle that one while I find Ephesians._

The Titan rolled his eyes as the Ghost disappeared, joining up with the heavy vehicles below and jumping back onto the tank as the Master Chief assumed control once more. The vehicles rolled down the cliff, dodging rocks and blowing up Ghosts along the way. Several mortar tanks stood in their way as they attempted to enter the clearing, the three tanks facing off as the Warthogs and Mongooses zipped through their defences to focus on taking down ground troops and the Ghost vehicles.

Marines whooped in excitement at the resounding explosions, gunning down stragglers, as they drove down towards the clearing in front of the large structures.

"Scarab's back!" A Marine on the other side of the tank barked, pointing up at the spindly synthetic. "This time it means business!" Callixtus stood on top of the armoured treads, Hawkmoon in his hands as the Master Chief approached the behemoth of a synthetic arachnid.

_Oh, no, I can hear your thoughts. Do **not**! _Ghost stated suddenly but it was too late. Already, Callixtus sought out his mind's eye, searching for the control room of the large vehicle and then he felt himself move through the very fabrics of reality.

"Holy fuck-!"

Feeling himself being pieced back together, the Titan blinked rapidly to compensate for the sudden darkness before spotting the familiar shielded core, the arachnid shuddering beneath the impact of multiple heavy weapons. Stepping forward, he groaned softly when his vision swam and pain flared throughout his body, arm resting across his sternum even though the pain originated from everywhere. Shaking it off, he took another step, ignoring it as he punched the shields away before shooting at the flesh. A loud shriek pierced the air as the flesh was shredded away and the arachnid let out a whine, alarms filling the air.

_Now would be a very good time to leave! _Ghost exclaimed as the Titan stumbled outside, shaking underneath the growing pain. _Now means **now**, Callixtus!_

Wordlessly, the Guardian jumped off the monster just as it screamed and exploded, raining down it's mangled glory as Callixtus landed in the sand, stumbling before falling, landing on his knees.

Ghost appeared once more, taking quick scans of the Guardian who just lay on the ground, breathing harshly through his nose as the platoon of vehicles surrounded him, the Master Chief jumping out of the tank and approaching them just as Ghost reported,

"Guardian, your hearts' rates are frighteningly low as is your BP. Circulation and lungs stopped functioning momentarily and your neurals just spiked impossibly. Something's going on in your neural net. What are you _doing_?! What was that?!"

Callixtus huffed, hands moving sluggishly as he tried to push himself off the ground, letting Ghost berate him. "I've seen only the Vex use that! Is that what that terminal is talking about? Are you using the Conflux? Did you _take _the Conflux?!"

Once more, Callixtus ignored him, struggling to his feet as the pain receded; the Master Chief steadied him, gaze flickering between Ghost and the Titan.

"What's going on?" He demanded eventually, apparently irritated at being kept out of the loop of whatever was going on between the two.

"That's what I'd like to know!" Ghost barked, miniature body flying close to Callixtus's face. "As far as I can tell, this idiot is trying to get himself killed by using something he barely knows how to control!" The Ghost's eye made contact with the Titan's faceplate. "Do _not_ under _any _circumstance do that _again_. Not until I access your neural network and figure out what in the name of the Traveller is going on with you." The Titan nodded tentatively and the Ghost suddenly whipped it's gaze towards the Master Chief.

"If he does anything suspicious, feel free to punch him," it supplied. "And tell me, please. I don't normally ask for favours but you're the only one I- _we _can trust at the current moment." This was met with a simple nod and the Ghost disappeared once more and the Master Chief faced Callixtus who held Hawkmoon once more, shaking subsiding entirely as the pain finally disappeared.

"Green, Guardian?" And yet another nod was given. Even if he wasn't, he figured he'd still say he was. Too stubborn for his own good and all.

The Master Chief eyed him warily before turning and walking over to a Warthog; as Callixtus climbed in, the super-soldier drove it up the ramp and towards the entrance of the facility, allowing the Marine on the chain-gun to take out any enemies in the immediate vicinity as the others forged forward and to the entrance, seeing that Guilty Spark was already working on opening the door. A Pelican met them, dropping off reinforcements and the Arbiter who nodded towards them and gave them an idle compliment on their progress before entering the facility.

They walked over corpses of grunts and apes, aliens that were killed by the sentries, as they met up with Spark who set to work on yet another door.

"It seems I've run into an error," Spark announced suddenly.

"Here, lemme take a look," a Marine offered, walking towards the door, only to get hit by Spark's blue beam.

"Oracle!" The Arbiter scolded as the Marine glared at the small orb, saying irritably, "Little bastard _stung _me!"

"I did not want you to come to any harm," Spark reasoned calmly as Ghost appeared, mumbling, "Scoot." and set to work on opening the door as the Marine growled under his breath, "Funny way of showing it." As soon as the door opened, Ghost disappeared once more, ignoring Spark's compliment as it took the lead once more into a room full of sleeping aliens and one particular ape who was taking a piss in the corner. As the others took care of the grunts, the Master Chief swiftly and silently made his way over to the ape, snapping its neck in the blink of an eye. The sound of armour colliding with the ground, however, woke up the remainder of the smaller creatures and set them into panic, making it rather difficult to kill the rest of them for a moment.

Entering a small hall, the squad made haste into another room leading deeper into the facility and coming across more sleeping grunts. They threw a grenade at a set of plasma coils sitting next to the slumber creatures and wiped out half of the room with them, setting off a chain reaction of explosions that only left the azure ape standing. Its armour was quickly stripped away, helmet popping off with a well-placed shot from Hawkmoon, the handcannon letting out it's customary booming sounds - unusual for a small weapon - and was finished off by a bullet to the throat, left to choke in it's own blood.

They spiraled down deeper into the facility, Guilty Spark leading them the entire way; they ran into a weakly-armoured ape that barked, "Finally, a challenge!" but didn't get much say in considering the fact that the Master Chief threw a plasma grenade into its mouth. The Humans leapt into the room, guns blazing as they tore down all aliens that stood in their path, their enemies squawking in protest as they valiantly attempted to fight back. Callixtus shoulder-charged one ape, tearing out its arm, and into another, his spiked shoulder piercing through the weak armour and killing it instantly. When he swung around, the body flew off the spike and into a shielded squawker, pinning it down.

Several extra powerful rounds of Hawkmoon pelted another ape's helmet and it went down without a sound as the Titan turned and threw a lightning grenade into a group of shielded birds, the periodic lightning lashing out at the aliens violently, electrocuting them and their shields.

Wordlessly, they continued forward, coming across a large, glass platform curved into a U-shape, control panels expanding from the deep curve.

"The Cartographer," Guilty Spark said in a please voice. "Come, it awaits your approval." The Master Chief approached the device, activating a hologram of the galaxy as the Arbiter made his way around one of the extended platforms, Callixtus standing several feet away from the Human, eyeing the skies warily.

"That's...our galaxy," the Chief stated numbly as Spark floated idly next to him. "We're beyond the rim."

"Two to the eighteenth light years from the galactic centre," Spark noted. "To be precise."

"What is this place?"

"The Ark."

"_This _is the Ark?"

"I always assumed it was part of a _shield _installation but it seems I was mistaken."

"That's a first."

"Not at all. While I have a complete understanding of Installation 04, my Makers limited my knowledge on all other strategic facilities. Compartmentalisation. In case I was captured by the Flood." The Master Chief cast Callixtus a passing glance who merely gave a shrug that said, 'I'd do that, yes.'

"Can you tell me where we are _exactly_?"

"Here." A small blip was highlighted on the hologram of the Ark.

"And Truth?" Another blip was highlighted on one of the prongs of the device.

"In one of the Ark's super-illuminal communications arrays, I'm afraid. Unfortunate. The meddler has triggered a barrier. A defensive perimeter around the Ark's core." As the AI continued explaining the situation, two aerial ships passed casually by outside, causing the soldiers to tense up. Slowly, the Master Chief made his way around the perimeter of the device, keeping his eye on Spark as the AI continued rambling. "The barrier _will _be difficult to disable. How odd that my Makers would place such a comprehensive defence around a single-oh my."

"What is it?"

"Phantom!" The Arbiter barked, pointing at the approaching dropship. The Master Chief dived behind cover as the others pulled out their weapons, prepared for whatever came out of the dropship.

"Spark, move!" The Chief ordered and the orb instantly moved to the Human's side.

"We _must _get past that barrier or the meddler will destroy it all!" Spark exclaimed. Immediately, the Master Chief ran towards where they came from, Callixtus lingering behind as the Arbiter stated,

"Follow the Oracle, Spartan, I will help your sergeant clear the skies!"

"Sir," one of the Marines spoke up, "a Pelican's gonna land one level down!"

As they descended, they came across assassins, the apes having gone invisible and attempting to get around them. The air blurred irritatingly, distorted by the forms of the apes, and Callixtus concentrated carefully, making sure none of the aliens snuck up on him as his gaze trailed around the room. Taking out his Invective, he waited patiently, turning when he heard a roar and pumped several shells of fire into the belly of the beast, the corpse nearly slumping over him.

Swinging around, he took out another ape that attempted to lunge at him, the creature howling as it tried to put out the flames but only succeeded in spreading them. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one last ape trying its damnedest to keep the element of surprise only to receive a shotgun blast into the stomach and a swift kick to the head, smashing it to a bloody pulp against one of the pillars.

Descending into another platform area, Callixtus engaged with the jetpackers, swiftly knocking many of them out of the air. One of them he was able to knock off the edge and into the abyss below. While simultaneously keeping the other apes busy, he provided as much covering fire as he could for the Master Chief who was currently taking on two heavily armoured apes that were attempting to smash him with their brutish hammers.

When one of them went down and the Master Chief picked up the hammer, the firefight passed on rather quickly. The Covenant squad was either smashed to a pulp or kicked off the edge by pissed off super-soldiers, each side spewing out insults along the way.

As soon as the area was clear, two Pelicans appeared, one being controlled by the woman Callixtus recalled being addressed as Commander Keyes. One Pelican came forward to pick up the troops when a swarm of sentries appeared from below. Alert and alarmed, they raised their weapons towards the bots as the Master Chief laid out a warning.

Immediately, the Pelicans turned to have their turrets ready to face off with the bots only to have Guilty Spark stop them.

"No! Don't shoot! They mean us no harm! Those units have a priority task."

"Oh, yeah? And what might _that _be?" Johnson asked in irritation.

"I really can't say. Not for sure."

_Oh, I know what they're doing, _Ghost grumbled suddenly as they watched the sentries disappear_. I've established a connection between us and your neural network. You should be able to mentally contact Ephesians now; I'm currently working on finding some way to bring them out here, however._

_I have a feeling you didn't make that remark just because you felt like it. _Callixtus stated hesitantly as he and the Master Chief stepped onto the Pelican, the hatch closing.

_No. I didn't. You owe me five hundred glimmer._

_What?_

_The Vex. They're coming. And they're working for that **thing**._

_Guilty Spark?_

_Yes. Wherever those sentries are going, it's got to deal with the Vex._

_And how did you figure that out?_

_I did some poking around. _Ephesians's voice joined in on the conversation, a new presence filling Callixtus's mind. This one was organic and warm and he suddenly felt like there was a second person inside of him as if he were sharing the body. _Atheon's got a bit of control in the Other side, it keeps sending Vex here to get the Conflux which appeared shortly after I got back from fighting the Gorgons. I've been stuck in the final area of the Vault. It's chaotic in here, I didn't think it'd be able to happen but they can't get through. Since you have control over the Conflux, your mental barriers are also Vex._

_What?_

_Besides the point, I digress. Every Precursor Vex killed reveals a data packet of information; I've been collecting these, some of them are information and some of them are memories. Moral of the story is, Atheon's made a deal with this Guilty Spark AI and there's a lot of Vex heading your way._

_Not only that. _Ghost added.

_As if it could get worse. _Callixtus frowned.

_Oh no, it can. _Ephesians remarked dryly. _Looks like the whole 'an evil so dark it despises other evil' doesn't apply to the Precursor Vex. Atheon is in it with the Grave Plague. Has plans, schematics, schemes-_

_What's the point you're trying to get across?_

_Atheon's shared the plans of how to resurrect. How to implement magic into the Plague itself._

_You mean-?_

_The Hive. They're coming as well._

* * *

><p><em>AN: Yes._

_Now we have an Exo Warlock thrown into this whole ordeal. Sort of._

_Ephesians-44 is non-binary and their armour consists of Obsidian Mind, Deathsinger's Grip and Mantle, and Dusk Tread VI. Shader is Middaye. Bond is the Bone Circlet. Arsenal consists of primaries Vex Mythoclast (explained next chapter, maybe) and Word of Crota, specials Icebreaker and Secret Handshake, and heavies Gjallarhorn and the Unfriendly Giant. By the way their arsenal and armour is set up, you can see some...thing they've done in the past. Despite being stuck in the Other side, they'll show up frequently so I might as well tell you their set-up now._

_Original draft had Callixtus accept a deal from Atheon (as described in the new prologue) and kill the rest of Ephesians but it was highly out of character and stupid in general. Second draft had Ephesians come back to life entirely but I want it to be just the Master Chief and Callixtus; they'll occasionally pop up like they did earlier but it won't be often and they can't do it manually. I won't have Callixtus dying often but he'll be going into the Other side occasionally._

_Ephesians is critical to the story, but they're not crucial to the point where I'll be writing in their POV or bringing them to the Halo Universe per se. Original draft also had the rest of the fireteam stuck in the Other side but I scrapped it because I can't write about six Guardians and a Spartan with varying personalities; I'm already overburdening myself with these three and that's not even topping off with the Ghost and other characters. Oh well._

_Also, trninja and anyone else with the same question or comment, if you wished for the Chief to go into Destiny's world then you should definitely check out _Our Forgotten Heroes_ by TheAlphaTitan, a fabulous read and just getting started so you'll have enough time to catch up. They have a coherent posting schedule and are an amazing writer and I wish I could write like them. _

_And, if you'll look on my profile, I've mentioned that this story is the first of a series. I've the entire plot/arch/whatever planned out and all I need is to execute it. __There's a lot of wiggle room for, well, just about anything. So stick with this and maybe you'll see what happens._

_If you can, please leave a review or PM me; it boosts my morale and your advice really helps me out._

_Thanks for reading._


	8. VII

_A/N: Currently working on editing the first, probably, three or four chapters right now so I can update the version and I can get to posting on AO3. Also, I've been super sick lately and I've been missing two weeks' worth of school so I've been trying to catch up on school work._

_Prometheus-G747: Essentially, yes, when a Guardian dies and is revived then their armour, weapons, ammo, all of that is recovered as well, you're correct. The only reason that Ghost is saying he'll convert armour into plasteel plating and whatnot is so they can upgrade the armour, make it better. Callixtus has "raid gear" from the Vault and considering that he had just finished the so-called "raid", it wouldn't make sense if it was fully upgraded already, therefore, they'll be using what little supplies they have left to upgrade it in order to make it better. Of course, simply killing oneself when the armour is damaged is the way to go but it seems a little bit "deus ex machina", to which I sincerely want to veer away from as it's a cheap trick, plus, who wants to go into battle with damaged armour when you have a chance to make repairs? I'll be using the Guardian Suicide method only once as far as I'm concerned and it's not because he needs armour repairs._

_Also, Ghost is able to synthesize ammo from the enemy, yes, but - the way I see it - Ghost is only able to do this because it's studied and been educated on the schematics of the weapons. The ammunition also appears to be very similar to each other so synthesizing it shouldn't be all that difficult. In the current area they're in, however, their enemies and comrades use plasma and chemical based weapons. It's so far **backwards **that the Ghost doesn't know how to synthesize it just yet. Yes, in the future, plasma and hardlight are an essential part of their weaponry at one point in the Golden Age - which is also why Ghost was excited when it realized the sentinels used hardlight despite being outdated - but it's all upgraded and more advanced to which I'll divulge in the story later. To the Ghost and Callixtus, these weapons are outdated and obsolete in comparison to what their arsenal consists of in terms of ammo._

_Plasma and hardlight are something a little different entirely in the case that some of them can actually be used to decrypt certain engrams, not entirely to the point they're useful, but it'd give the Cryptarchs a start on repairing and relearning what was lost from the Golden Age and the Collapse. In terms of synthesizing, the Ghost needs some time to learn some new tricks so Callixtus doesn't run out of ammunition._

_In answer to a question I've gotten frequently, yes, I don't mind if you draw/write/whatever anything related to this (fan-stuff of fanfic? Interesting). I do ask that you tag me, I've made a blog related to this series on Tumblr called **guardiancallixtus**, feel free to follow that as I will be posting notifications of my updates for those of you who can't follow this story, answering questions, posting snippets and original drafts, etc. If you wish to PM me a question, do so on my blog as I will answer there._

* * *

><p>Bizzare. Unethical. Unusual. Otherworldly.<p>

These were the words that ran through John's head whenever he thought about the Guardian.

Unnatural. Powerful. Unstoppable.

There were three more words.

The Spartan was sure of it; he had watched the Guardian _die_. Watched as the man took his final breath, even adapt _rigor mortis_, but the Ghost calmly hovered over his body, refusing to budge. The AI hadn't said anything and just simply told them to wait.

"Patience," was all he said.

Not three minutes later and the Guardian lunged up, light surrounding his body, encasing him, weaving in and out of every crevice of his arm, and he landed on his feet, rolling his shoulders as if nothing had happened. For once, the Master Chief had been stunned into silence. The Guardian had been resurrected from actual death with no source in sight.

It dawned on John that this man was capable of avoiding death entirely, merely a foreign concept to him.

But when the Guardian returned to the living, he brought something with him; they were vaguely humanoid but John couldn't distinguish any features from them, having only appeared as a faint outline of a human. Their voice sounded synthesized and the Ghost had referred to them as 'Ephesians-44', perhaps an AI of some kind then? They had claimed to have come from the Guardian's imagination and disappeared shortly afterwards, apparently being attacked by something called 'Gorgons'.

Then the Guardian _teleported _on to a Scarab. Quite literally. John watched from his position in the Scorpion as the Guardian turned into small white particles and dispersed then he watched as the man jumped off the back of the exploding Scarab.

The Ghost had been angry, yelling about vexes and confluxes, asking the Spartan to watch the Guardian. Whatever he had done was killing him. Permanently killing him.

Mystery. Nonlinear. Cryptic. Chaotic. Wild.

More words began flitting through his mind as he looked over at the soldier standing next to him in the Pelican; the Ghost had appeared over his usual spot over the Guardian's left shoulder and seemed to be conversing with him quietly.

Then there was that electrical explosion he was able to conjure up. It felt more than that though; it felt _raw_ and more powerful than should be allowed as if the Guardian drew it from some kind of inner source, somewhere else. Backup energy perhaps? There had to be a logical reason around this man, at least _one_.

Guilty Spark practically confirming that the Guardian was Forerunner added on to the pile of 'what the fuck' that _is _the Guardian.

Unique. Practical. Talented. Tactical.

The Pelican shuddered and John snapped his head forward in time to see one of the other dropships fall from the atmosphere and land in the body of water below. Behind him, he heard Stacker giving out various orders the Marines behind them.

Looking out at the chaos below the Pelican, John grabbed the M6 Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, appropriately dubbed the "Spartan Laser", and a Battle Rifle before jumping out of the Pelican before it hit the ground, throwing a frag grenade into the fray to set off several plasma batteries.

"Could we possibly make any more noise?!" The Ghost yelled from over the Guardian's shoulder and was greeted with the Guardian's lightning bolt grenade crackling and snapping at nearby enemies. "Well, I guess so!" The AI ducked behind the Guardian as they advanced forward through the outcropping of rocks and disappeared in a flash of blue.

John took out the Spartan Laser and aimed it towards the anti-air Wraith shooting at the sky; he waited patiently for it to turn before the bright red beam tore across the battlefield, through the tank, and into the turret sitting behind it. In the distance, it sounded like it also hit one of the Banshees.

The Spartan joined up with the Guardian, who had taken the time to pull a turret out of its stand and throw it at a set of fleeing Grunts, and the pair advanced up the hill with the Marines and dived behind some boulders just in time to dodge the fuel rods shot at them. Two Brute Majors rounded on them, wielding Maulers although the superheated projectiles did little to penetrate their shields and the two soldiers retaliated quickly, beating down the pair of Brutes with practised ease and sheer brutality.

Simultaneously, they lunged at the Chieftain, the Guardian delivering a strong punch to its gut as he used his momentum to tackle the giant alien. John followed, holding down the Brute by clambering onto its chest and tore off its helmet; it thrashed and roared, snapping at the Spartan, clawing at him but the Guardian grabbed the arms, snarling while the pair shot at the squirming beast. Several rounds from the battle rifle tore through the brain and it went limp immediately, receiving an irritated bellyful of fiery bullets from the Guardian, the man growling as he stalked away.

Distantly, a Marine reported in the destruction of the anti-air Wraith, Miranda responding as her Pelican began to dip low in the distance arriving on the beach with a flourish, a Gauss Warthog, and reinforcements in tow.

"Shipmaster, begin the diverse bombardment," Miranda ordered as she dropped the supplies.

"_I will beat the Prophet's shield like a drum,_" Rtas answered in kind. "_By the time the barrier falls, he will **beg **for mercy._"

"Spark says Truth can activate the rings at any time," Miranda explained, her Pelican lifting off. "If he does, Earth...every being in the _galaxy..._Halo will kill them _all_. Get to the first tower, shut it _down_."

_Inspiring. _John thought, climbing into the driver seat of the Warthog after giving the passenger ODST the dead Chieftain's Fuel Rod Cannon and one of the Mongoose passengers his Spartan Laser; he then waited for the Guardian to climb on to the turret before starting the drive towards the cliffside with several Mongooses following the vehicle. They dodged around a speeding Ghost which was shot down by the Gauss cannon - the cannon itself eliciting a surprised yelp from the Guardian - and drove around a plateau full of Grunts that gave chase for several moments before succumbing to the hail of bullets raining down upon them.

Driving up the hill, Johnson reported in along with the Arbiter, their own squads having made it to the base of the towers they were assigned to.

As they broke through the crevice they were traveling through, John guided the vehicle across a waterfall that overlooked the entrance below which also had a Wraith guarding it.

A pair of Prowlers rolled out from underneath the entrance to support the Wraith, the vehicles making their way up the plateau to greet the human vehicles.

The Gauss Cannon fired on the Wraith, killing the Brute controlling the turret instantaneously, and taking off the hatch to the pilot's seat of the Wraith itself. In an attempt to save itself from an inevitable doom, the Wraith fired a plasma mortar towards the Warthog only to hit one of the Mongooses, killing the two ODSTs instantly; the other two Mongooses and the ODST in the Warthog retaliated with howls of promises of utter hell, successfully avenging their two comrades by assaulting anything not in a Human vehicle that moved.

Driving down into the entrance of the tower, John successfully ran over the regiment that sat in waiting, successfully derailing a turret that was also sitting with them. After ensuring that the perimeter was secured, he positioned the Warthog carefully so the ODSTs could easily gun down any approaching reinforcements from outside before jumping out of the vehicle and entering the structure with the Guardian trailing behind, leaving the Gauss Cannon to be handled by someone else.

Several Jackals chittered amongst themselves until Grunts began shrieking and fleeing at the sight of the two behemoths that approached them with a deadly gait and even deadlier weapons and intentions. The shielded Jackals valiantly stood against them, backed up by two Carbine snipers although they were easily dispatched by quick melee strikes that either crushed their windpipes or their skulls. No use in wasting ammunition on such weak creatures, he supposed while they finished off the cowering Grunts.

They approached a lift, John picking up a Brute Shot along the way to replace the lost Spartan Laser, and they ascended the tower relatively quickly. As soon as it reached the top, John began assessing the enemies, throwing two spike grenades he had picked off a dead Brute Captain; when they detonated, however, the Brute Chieftain - who conveniently wielded a Gravity Hammer - threw down a regen device, quickly sealing the wounds that the spike grenades gave to the Chieftain and the remaining Brute Major.

The Guardian broke off to engage with the Major, bypassing the Chieftain entirely although it seemed the Chieftain had set its beady gaze on to the Spartan anyways. John rolled back just as the Chieftain swung down, leaving the metallic floor below them dented. Several grenades from the Brute Shot cracked the crazed Brute's armour before it donned the invincibility power-up, lasting long enough to nearly shatter the floor as the Spartan dodged around it once more. Once the power-up began wavering, the device sputtering, John darted behind it once more, firing the rest of the grenades from the Brute Shot to fully crack down the armour before throwing the weapon, the blade of it slicing cleanly into the Chieftain's neck.

The weapon clattered to the floor along with the head which rolled lamely across as the body fell to the ground with a dull thud, blood pooling around it quickly.

John calmly retrieved the weapon, reloading it with a new belt of grenades, and strode towards the tower controls, passing the Guardian who was taking his time in wiping his gauntlets and shoulders off on the fur of one of the Brute's corpses before joining the Spartan as he turned off the tower.

"_Good work, Chief,_" Miranda complimented, "_that's one. The Arbiter should be just about-that's two! It's all up to Johnson's team now._" The two looked over at the still active tower, John frowning at the lack of activity that seemed to go on. "_Go back outside and wait for transport._" After waiting for several moments to see whether or not it'd shut down, the pair eventually went back down the ship and exited the tower as Miranda attempted to hail the Sergeant Major.

"_We need reinforcements, ma'am, we're pinned down,_" Johnson eventually reported, his comms. more than slightly, unnervingly staticky.

"_I'm on my way!_"

"_Negative. Fire's too heavy. Everyone, fallback!_"

"_Sergeant Major!_" A tense pause. "_Johnson, can you hear me?_" Another pause. "_Chief, you and the Guardian need to link up with the Arbiter and proceed directly to the third tower. Make your way back to the beach_."

Driving back through the crevice of the cliff once more, the small squad came across several Hornets that landed on the shores of the beach. Hocus explained that the only way to currently get to the third tower was via Hornet as it was more efficient to simultaneously take care of aerial issues so that the reinforcements didn't have any trouble getting to the LZ.

When offered one of the aerial vehicles, the Ghost appeared, saying, "I've got something worked up for the Guardian, a schematic I managed to scrounge out with the help of Ephesians. Let's go, transmat just got on online." And the Guardian disappeared in a flash of blue-and-white.

"Why do we get stuck with the weird ones?" one of the Marines muttered as John got into the Hornet, the vehicle lifting off as soon as the two passengers got on board.

Although the Hornets weren't as swift or maneuverable as the Banshees they were pitted against, the Human aerial vehicles made it up for their guided missiles, something that Fuel Rod Cannons attached to the Banshees couldn't necessarily do too easily. When the Banshee thought it had shaken off a pair of the missiles, the projectiles circled back and kicked it in the ass. Glorious.

After taking out an anti-air Wraith that had been bothering the Pelicans for a while, the Spartan made his way over to the tower, circling around a cliff as he targeted several Banshees surrounding a Covenant Phantom, taking them out before downing the Phantom itself.

"_Objective in sight, Commander,_" Stacker reported. _"No sign of Johnson or his team._"

"_Understood,_" Keyes replied smoothly. "_Chief, clear an LZ. Then get me inside the tower._"

Several more Covenant Phantoms and Banshees appeared, heading straight towards the Pelicans and Hornets that attempted to approach the tower. Between them and the anti-air Wraiths, John figured it'd be a pretty difficult fight if he didn't maneuver the Hornet correctly. Just as the thought crossed his mind, three of the Phantoms approaching them seemed to have spontaneously combusted into purple energy, reminiscent of something he'd seen before.

"_This ship is a **beauty**!_" The Ghost crowed suddenly through the open comms. as a small fighter ship appeared from orbit, a steel-blue in colour with a horizontal yellow stripe going across its small rectangular engines and hull. "_We gotcha covered, Spartan! Take care of those anti-airs!_"

The ship circled around in a large loop, barreling clean through a Banshee while shooting at another, the ship seemingly shrugging off the plasma as if it were nothing, suffering only a small scorch mark. The Banshees and Phantoms were successfully destroyed by the nimble ship and supporting Hornets as were the Wraiths taken down with ease by the remaining vehicles that were already on approach on the balconies of the third tower's entrance.

Separatist Phantoms began appearing on approach along with the Pelicans, both types of dropships dropping off human and alien reinforcements alike as the Spartan's Hornet landed. They watched as the Guardian's ship hovered above them and the Guardian himself appeared once more in a flash of blue and white, the Ghost hovering over his shoulder and chatting animatedly.

"-warpdrive doesn't exactly work just yet but Ephesians and I are close to finding a way to fix it with what supplies we can find lying around-" The Guardian began lightly batting at the Ghost who continued talking at an exhausting pace, ignoring the Guardian's light, warning swats. "-if you keep this up, I think we could use the Conflux to-" The Guardian grabbed the Ghost with one hand, brought him up to his faceplate and put a finger over where his mouth would be with a soft 'shh' escaping him; at first, the Ghost stared at him as if trying to comprehend what the Guardian was attempting to say before his eye lit up.

"Sorry, sorry! I'll go put the ship in orbit now!" The Ghost apologised before disappearing back to wherever he goes.

"_Go ahead and put it in the _Dawn's _hangar, we don't need any surprises taking anything out right now,_" Miranda offered as the platoon made their way inside the tower, tearing down a squad of Brute Captains along the way.

Entering the area below the lift, John frowned at the silence before glaring up at the ceiling when he heard the telltale buzzing of drones meeting his ears. His glare hardened when he heard the familiar battlecry of a pair of Hunters sound at the same time. It seemed like the Elites weren't all to pleased with it either and the entire area turned into a maelstrom. Bits and pieces of flesh and armour and...yeah, he didn't know _what _was on that particular Elite but it wasn't human, that was for sure, gore littered the area in a messy repaint and as they traversed the small area, they left a storm, a trail in their wake. Wings, fur, armour, anything and everything that got in their way of the lift ended up smashed on the ground.

The Elites waited, watched, as John and the Guardian ascended in the lift, entering a similar room although this time, it was filled with Stalkers and a Brute Chieftain possessing a plasma turret.

The Guardian darted forward, dodging the plasma fire and hiding behind one of the walls, delivering a powerful backhand to one of the Stalkers that attempted to approach him before shooting it in the chest with his flame-prone shotgun. He lifted it upside-down over his head when he heard another approaching, delivering another shot that pierced the Stalker's helmet and it went down with a loud cry.

John lunged into the fight, firing the last belt of Brute Shot grenades at the Chieftain to get rid of its armour as best he could before taking out his battle rifle, swinging the butt of the weapon into the skull of an approaching Stalker. Several bursts of bullets escaped the barrel, connecting with the weak Stalker armour that last Brute had, popping off the helmet and delivering a perfect headshot.

The Spartan turned to confront the Brute Chieftain, not surprised when the Guardian leapt at the turret, grabbing on to the entire weapon and using his body's momentum to swing around the Chieftain and shove it down as he pushed on it's back with his feet. John rolled underneath it, holding up the blade of the Brute Shot so it easily fell on top of the sharp blade, piercing the armour and causing it to howl and squirm. Leaving the Brute Shot blade in place, the Spartan pried off the Chieftain's helmet, avoiding the gnashing death, and proceeded to beat it to death with it's own helmet, the contours of the helmet coated with blood and leaving the Brute's face unrecognisable.

Deactivating the last tower, the pair watched as the final barrier fell and the Separatist flagship hovered over the Ark's centre menacingly.

"_Now, Prophet,_" Rtas began lowly, "_your end has come._" As the Elite said this, a slipstream vortex opened, allowing the familiar silhouette of High Charity to slip through, no longer the gleaming glory it first was when John stepped on to it. Debris followed the crashing space city, some of it striking the flagship, tearing straight through the mighty ship.

One particular piece crashed into the tower, soaring over the pair's heads and landing in the back of the room. What crawled out was definitely _not _Flood. There was a multitude of them and they were spiny, sunken, and a deathly looking grey. It had no eyes and was lipless, allowing shrieks more deafening than the Flood's own cries to ring throughout the area, the clawed fingers glowed with dark blue energy, and it was wholly intent on _killing_ and _eating_.

John stood ready and looked over at the Guardian, surprised to see that the soldier seemed to have faltered, his confidence and cool disappearing, hands trembling momentarily before he regained his composure and pulled up the mask of cool confidence, this time, he was armed with a silver revolver reminiscent of a hawk, the fiery shotgun magnetised to his back, just in case.

"What is _that_?" The Spartan eventually asked, his voice rumbling quietly. The Guardian shook his head furiously as he expertly shot down the shrieking creatures with striking precision, their bodies turning into dust.

"The Hive. They have invaded this world," the Ghost replied through the Guardian's suit eerily, seeming to have chosen to remain within the armour. "They and the Plague are one. Oryx will rise and destroy all that is Light."

It was cryptic and only succeeded in raising more questions rather than answer anything whatsoever. Oryx? The Hive? The Plague was probably the Flood.

Another shriek pierced the area Flood combat forms appeared with a levitating creature trailing behind them. It wore robes of varying shades of pale crimson and tan with an orange shield surrounding it; it shrieked angrily, the sound similar to those the grey ones except at a lower pitch.

As John focused on the Flood forms that were attacking, he almost failed to notice the way the new hostile raised its arms before it rapidly threw blue-and-white orbs of searing energy towards him. He rolled out of the way and turned just in time to see that the energy could, in fact, melt the surface which was metal. Which meant that it probably wasn't a good idea to get shot at by the creature. It swung its arm in a large arch and a dark green dome appeared, trapping him.

John felt like someone threw him underwater while simultaneously choking him out; he couldn't breathe and his movements were sluggish, his armour weighed more than it should. His lungs and eyes and mouth and limbs burned and stung, bile rising in his throat. Darkness crept around his vision as he tried to crawl out of the dome. Distantly, he heard another shriek and the creature went down, turning into embers and ash, then someone threw him out of the poisonous dome and as soon as he left it, it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off him, he could see and breathe properly again.

He watched as the Guardian stumbled out of the fading dome, shaking his head to clear it before going over to the Spartan, tilting his head in a questioning manner.

"The first time's always the worst," the Ghost supplied helpfully. "Wizards usually miss their target though so I doubt you'll have any problems in the future. It's the Thralls and Knights you'll have to watch out for."

John grimaced, so there was a new enemy on the fronts, in league with the Flood, and it looked like they were ten times worse.

"What are they?" The two headed towards the lift, wiping out any remaining Flood spores that scrambled around, trying to find a host.

"Undead. Like creatures summoned from the ocean after a millennium of slumber. I didn't expect to see them _here_. Something's warping around us, woke them up. Looks like they've got some kind of alliance with the Plague."

"Oryx?" He tested the word out, disliking the way the word felt so _foreign _on his tongue.

Descending from the lift, they watched as the Elites and Arbiter destroyed any combat forms and Thralls that attempted to enter the area, occasionally giving out battlecrys in response to the undead shrieking.

Over the comm. links, multiple platoons reported in seeing the strange creatures assisting the Flood, the Thralls' shrieking filling the air and interrupting them as they joined in on the assault, quite literally tearing a part any living thing that dared to stand in their way.

"Oryx hasn't been around for centuries. If it's him, he might've just sent one of his followers instead." The Guardian grunted as he jumped down from the lift, his own rendition of a battle rifle out and aiming around the quiet area cautiously. "Well, he's not a fixed point so it's a possibility. Nothing's happening on your neural network so you should be safe from the Hive, mentally speaking; I'll have Ephesians check out anything unusual if anything pops up."

Exiting the tower, they were met with an impossibly huge, dark red creature; its armour was all sharps and angles, three pale green eyes glowing from underneath the tri-horn helm. It wielded a crude claymore that looked like it was made of bones and glowed the same pale green as the eyes; it roared, swinging the sword down and causing a ripple of energy to make the soldiers stumble back momentarily save for the Guardian who counteracted against the sword by bringing up his forearms and using the spiked gauntlets to catch the blade.

_Child of the Traveler's Light, you cannot hide. _A crude voice rumbled within John's mind as the Guardian struggled against the blade, knees beginning to buckle under the strain as the creature leaned forward, snarling with what looked to be a very deadly, malicious grin. The Spartan rounded on the tall, undead creature, shooting at its head which was responded to with a loud roar, the sword lifting from the Guardian's gauntlets and swung towards the Spartan who slid underneath it just as the Guardian shot at the edgy creature, watching with grim satisfaction as it dispersed into ash and with a fading roar.

Leaving the tower, some Separatist and Marine reinforcements was dropped off along with heavy vehicular firepower, prompting John to jump in the Scorpion, leading them through the tunnels towards the Citadel.

"_The Shipmaster's ship is out of commission,_" Keyes explained. "_I need you to stop Truth. Punch through the cliffs and get inside that Citadel._"

The Scorpion plowed through the suddenly snowy terrain, crushing Covenant, Ghosts, and Prowlers alike. The Mongooses and Warthogs followed behind, flourishing with their own weaponry, some Marines climbed out to pick up a Covenant heavy weapon and soon fuel rods were added into the mix of grenades and rockets.

Two Scarabs fell from the atmosphere just as the Scorpion entered the clearing; John looked over at the Guardian from his position in the seat of the Scorpion and said tersely, "_Don't_."

The Guardian growled in response but complied quietly, remaining in his seat on the tread of the Scorpion as it rounded on one of the closer Scarabs, shooting at its legs. It crouched down with a loud wail, turret shaking as it tried to pinpoint the vehicles driving around its legs to distract it.

"You get that one," John ordered and the Guardian nodded, jumping off the Scorpion and entering the Scarab without too much difficulty.

Turning the turret of the Scorpion, the Spartan focused on grounding the second Scarab permanently, the massive weapon entering the same state as its partner, turret swiveling wildly trying to pinpoint a target to shoot at. As John climbed into the Scarab, the one next to it gave a loud whine before exploding into its usual ball of blue and white plasma, bits and pieces of it raining down on the battlefield below. It didn't take long for the second Scarab to follow, the Spartan leaping out of it in a similar manner the Guardian had when he had teleported on to it. On a lighter side, the Spartan wasn't going to pass out unlike what happened to the Guardian.

The pair joined the Arbiter on the bridge, waiting for Guilty Spark to activate the light bridge to which they sprinted across it quickly. They had maybe literally minutes to spare and none of it could be wasted lagging around. Entering the structure, John made it to the door before She appeared, the first time in a long while, and she murmured,

"_They asked and I answered. For I am their salvation._"

When She disappeared, the Prophet of Truth appeared on the holoscreens lining the walls, giving one last rousing speech.

"_My faithful, stand firm for we tread the blessed path. The presence of our God is righteous and whole and it is He who tells us so. Should He walk among us, we let Him tread freely so as to join us in this Great Journey. We will be delivered and join Him in **Paradise**._" At this the Guardian snarled at the sight of Johnson and the sight of the rings being activated, white and blue energy began surrounding him, his form turning transparent.

"Guardian!" John exclaimed, jumping towards the other soldier but only had his hand pass through his fading form as the particles flew through the Citadel, reforming behind the Brute and Johnson. "Damn it!"

The Spartan and the Aribter activated the lift, the Prophet's rejoiced voice fading from below as they rose up into the actual Citadel itself. Stepping off the platform, they were stopped by a Flood Tank form and a ragged Hive Wizard, one hissing the familiar voice of the Gravemind and another hissing in a crude, croaky voice.

"Do _not _shoot but listen!" They crowed. "Let us lead you safely to the God and to prevent our _doom_. Only you can assist He Who Dwells In Light for you and He have set in motion these chains of events that lead us here now."

John watched warily as Knights joined his side and Flood spores scuttled past his feet and Thralls shrieked while running past them and towards the controls of the Citadel. He looked over his shoulder at the Arbiter who merely gave him a pointed look before they faced the Citadel once more, stepping forward as temporary allies with the Flood and the Hive.

As they crossed the bridge, passing models of the Halo rings, the ground rumbled and the front of the Citadel lit up with pure light accompanied with an echoing bellow in a language too pure for anyone to comprehend. John and the Arbiter gave each other passing looks before bursting into a dead sprint to the controls, passing the Flood and Hive who feasted upon the carcasses of the Covenant, running across a light bridge in time to see a crashed Pelican with Johnson and Miranda huddled underneath it as if they had gone out on to a nice picnic for the day.

"Your friend's mighty pissed off," Johnson supplied, pointing to the elevated platform.

The two soldiers circled around it to see the Guardian partially ascending the steps, pure Light spilling from every crevice of his armour which seemed to have increased in size and became intricately decorated with incomprehensible symbols in a language never seen before. Faint tendrils of Light surrounded him and his hands were clawed, picking up the Prophet of Truth none too gently.

"_You are cursed, a liar, and a thief of those who seek salvation!_" The behemoth roared, Light steadily growing brighter. "_You led many down a false path of death and destruction, seeking what was to be prevented and forgotten and made it used and remembered! Prophet of Lies, you have forsaken the Forerunners, the Patriarchs, and all who have Ascended before and after your people! As one reborn in the Light and Child of the Traveler, bearer of the Light itself, I entitle you an ally of the Darkness and purge you of your errs, violations, and sins through **death**. You will be forgotten and lost in the dark corners of space and time!_"

Raising the clawed hand that didn't hold the Prophet, the Guardian plunged it through the belly of the alien, letting his Light spill into the creature; the Prophet's desperate screams and cries were muted as, eventually, he faded away into nothingness.

Simultaneously, the Light burst outwards, blinding everyone momentarily before fading, leaving the Guardian to collapse against the steps in exhaustion, head bowed as John ascended the platform and turned off the activation key, ultimately turning off the activation of the remaining Halos.

"You are truly the God that we speak so highly of," the Arbiter stated in awe, kneeling before the Guardian. "It is an honour to serve by your side, to be in your presence alone."

The Guardian stared at the Elite in confusion, still breathing harshly before looking up at John and then at the approaching forms of Johnson and Miranda.

"...what?" He asked softly, his voice low and gravelly, almost a striking replica of John's. He struggled to his feet, swaying heavily. "What happened?"

With that ground out, he fell forward, caught by John who had lunged forward so he wouldn't hit his head on the steps. The Ghost appeared almost immediately, hovering above the Guardian, taking multiple scans.

"That's all he needed," the AI stated quietly. "He transferred the Darkness into the Prophet...and purged the Conflux."

His eye flicked up, looking over at the stunned people gathered. "Just give him a few moments, this has never happened before."

"Will he remember?" Miranda asked in a concerned voice.

"What he did to the Prophet? No, he won't. The one who took down the Prophet was someone else. I believe it may have been the person he was in the past. Before he became a Guardian. It's a little sad, isn't it? You helped save the galaxy and you don't remember how. Or that you even did for that matter. He's been as confused as you are ever since we arrived. Give him some space." The Ghost disappeared once more as the Guardian stirred, groaning softly as John helped him back to his feet.

"I-" The Guardian paused, seemingly surprised that he could talk but he didn't get to continue as the ground rumbled once more, sickly green tendrils rising from below as low laughter bellowed from around them. The trio of soldiers got into a low crouch as Johnson and Miranda retreated into the Pelican, quickly activating it and attempting to fly out of the Citadel. John jumped onto one of the landing supports, catching the Arbiter with one hand while the Guardian grabbed on to the support; one of the tendrils swung at them, throwing them back on to the platform just as Johnson and Miranda took off, disappearing around the corner.

"Not even your _God _can save you; the Hive will weaken him. We will rise as one, the Darkness and I. Do not delay the inevitable, for your end has already long come to pass," the Gravemind warbled as the trio of warriors looked around fervently, eventually standing back-to-back together.

"We fight as one, brothers," the Arbiter encouraged as he activated his energy sword. The tendrils receded as Flood combat forms and Hive Thralls began to appear from behind the Citadel controls.

"_We__ can barely keep hold of her, Chief!_" Johnson barked over the comms. "_There's no way we can pick you up! Head back to the lift and find a way down!"_

A loud shriek filled the air, as if someone were dragged metal across metal, and a ship reminiscent of a sarcophagus appeared out of a green slipstream void, an orange light passed along the ground of the bridge and several smaller versions of the Hive Knights appeared along with more Thralls. Acolytes, the Ghost had supplied helpfully as they tore through the paper-like flesh of the Flood and bones of the Hive.

The Hive didn't move so erratically or in jerking movements, didn't show that they were, in fact, actually undead creatures; they move smoothly and with precision, they knew where they were going. True, the Flood was an intelligent life form, it could wield weapons but it was weak, the majority of it was cannon fodder, it connected to one mind, the Gravemind. The Hive, however, was trained, they were a regime, a military, they had a leader but they also had their own individual thoughts. They didn't need a host body to live. They showed their intelligence and they used it wisely; they crafted their own weapons, created their own ships, and developed their own technology, some of which John had never see the likes of it before.

Somehow, that type of undead was a lot more unnerving than the single mind that was the Flood.

While the Flood and Thralls launched forward, swinging at the trio of soldiers, the rest of the Hive reinforcements hung back, shooting at them with violet energy projectiles that washed over their shields. One of the Acolytes carried a rather large weapon that spat out blue-and-white energy in a large bolt that arched across the bridge, creating small explosions at their feet.

When the Hive were killed with precision, their bodies burst into ashes that floated among them. When they were killed by other conventional methods, their bodies collapsed, bursting into embers before fading away. John didn't know whether he truly killed them or if there was something calling them back so it could revive them; it was a very unnerving mystery to say in the least. Anything that was related to the Guardian was unnerving. It was an unknown and the Spartan _hated _going against something so _blindly_.

By the display of raw power that the Guardian had exhibited, the Spartan could say that he was more than relieved to have the Guardian himself on his side. Should he had succumbed to the lies of the Covenant, John highly doubted the outcome would have been as neat as it was back at the controls of the Citadel.

Running across the bridge and into one of the rooms interrupting it, John scowled when his vision darkened once more, the Arbiter and the Guardian circling him protectively as She appeared once more.

"_But a thief. I keep what I steal,_" She teased before disappearing again. John retaliated by shooting down a small squad of Acolytes huddled in a corner, watching as they burst into embers and then their ashes disappeared, dispersing in a hidden, unfeeling wind.

Seeing that the Spartan was back in action once more, the Arbiter and the Guardian fell into step next to him, creating an easy rhythm as they forged ahead, backtracking to the lift that would hopefully lead them outside of the Citadel.

Several Sentinels had appeared to assist them, their lasers easily striking down the Flood and Thralls. A Wizard's shields didn't really stand a chance against them despite the other weapons seemingly being useless. The shields probably reacted to heat as the Guardian's shotgun seemed to also prove effective against the fiery orange shields that surrounded the levitating creatures.

Clearing the area of Flood carrier forms, the three left the Sentinels to take care of the remaining Flood and Hive that entered the area, going behind the lift and entering a small chute that glowed a bright cerulean blue. They all landed next to each other, their hands free of weapons when they didn't spot an immediate threat.

Looking around, John spotted Cortana, or what he thought was Cortana, casually walking down a hall in the corner of his eye. The Spartan got up slowly, following after her at a leisurely pace.

"What do you see?" The Arbiter queried, mandibles clicking together when John didn't answer. The two, however, followed him, walking down the hall and towards a control panel. Activating it revealed a platform jutting over the edge just outside; walking on to it, the trio simultaneously peered over the edge curiously, watching in stunned silence as an unfinished Halo began rising from beneath the clouds.

"A replacement," the Arbiter finally stated, looking over at the Spartan. "For the ring you destroyed."

"When did you know?" John asked accusingly, causing the Guardian to step between them, in case he needed to break any upcoming fights. 343 Guilty Spark, however, chose the perfect time to appear and remark cheerfully,

"Just now." He hovered in front of the Arbiter and then the Spartan, "But, I had my hopes. What will you do?"

"_Light it_," John snapped, anger simmering beneath his voice. The Monitor nodded, as if in agreement, and then asked,

"And what would my Maker do?" He turned to the Guardian who stared back, his body tense. There wasn't a verbal answer, not this time; the Guardian opted to snarl menacingly and loudly at the AI, making his irritation known as he swatted at him angrily. The AI, however, simply floated out of the Guardian's reach, beaming.

"I see! I agree with what you say! A tactical location and activating it will eradicate the local infestation!" Spark said happily, circling the trio before beginning to fly off towards the levitating ring. "I will personally see the final preparations. I am glad to know that the action has finally been approved of."

"How will you light it?" The Arbiter asked as soon as the Monitor was gone. John simply looked over to where High Charity had crashed, the other two following his gaze.

"I will return to my ship with Johnson and Keyes and meet you there," the Arbiter announced when the idea finally dawned in his mind. "I wish you luck on finding your Construct." The Elite turned, heading back into the Citadel while hailing a Phantom to pick him up.

"Great, we're going back into the scary space city," the Guardian's Ghost mumbled as he appeared over the man's shoulder. "Question is: how're we going to get there?" The Guardian looked over at the small AI, murmuring something too low for John's enhanced hearing to pick up. "Yes, yes, I think he can fit."

"What?" John asked, furrowing his brow beneath the helmet when the Ghost came over and began casting his strange blue beam over his armour. "What are you doing?"

"I'm uploading you to the transmat system. We can take the Guardian's ship over to the crashed city," the Ghost whistled in explanation smoothly. "Alright, took a bit to decrypt some areas but you're in. Let's go." The world flashed before him and he closed his eyes, the sight disorienting, and he didn't open them until he heard the sound of boots on solid ground and the soft hum of an engine.

Looking around, he observed that the ship was relatively small, containing a loadout room with a wall separating it from the rest of the ship. A bed and a closet was built into the wall and a lavatory sat off to the right of the small area. The front of the ship had a pilot's chair and several screens set up, surrounding the window that gave a view of the High Charity ahead of them; the Ghost flitted about, whistling and toying with several controls on the dashboard which contained devices and dials that John couldn't really care more or less about.

The Guardian had gone into the loadout room, checking over a weapons' locker leisurely, acknowledging the Spartan when he entered the room after him. John watched curiously as the Guardian replaced his rocket launcher with the cheery AI machine gun John had seen the Guardian use back in the jungles of Africa, placing it on the workbench below him as he sifted through other weapons.

"Hi there!" The gun chirped in a child-like voice and manner, managing to flop on its side when it saw John. "I've seen you a couple of times! You look like a Titan but Cal says you're not!"

"Cal...?" John rose a brow at the name and watched as the gun rolled over, falling on to the Guardian who absentmindedly pushed it away, farther down the bench and more in front of John.

"My friend who picked me up out of a box on Mars! His full name is kinda hard for me to say so I like to call him Cal! He doesn't like it but it's fun to say! He's really nice too, gave me cool upgrades and made me more stronger so I can do more 'pew pew' and less 'ew'!" It felt like he was talking to a child which certainly made the Spartan feel a little bit out of his league; he was never good with children, always thought himself to be too gruff for them.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Super Good Advice but everyone calls me Adi!" John's eyes flicked over to the Guardian who had settled with a new set of weapons, a rifle that had a bird-like skull on the end and a large, black revolver - both of which had green gas flowing out of them - a jagged, red-and-steel sniper rifle, and the chirpy gun and an ornate white-and-bronze rocket launcher. The Guardian had opted to lean against the workbench, arms crossed, and watched the conversation with slight amusement radiating off his person.

"Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117," John answered gruffly and automatically. The AI went silent for a moment before speaking up in a confused tone,

"Um, that's kind of...long? All of you organics seem to have all these fancy names, it's really hard for me to keep track of them! Can I call you Sierra?" That was a first and the gun sounded genuine. A gun. Sounding. Genuine. A gun that talks. Somewhere out there in the galaxy, someone thought it was a great idea to stick an AI into a machine gun.

This was really getting to John's head and he blinked a few times before rubbing the back of his neck and head to make sure that, yes, he wasn't going insane and there was a gun talking to him.

"Yes."

"Oh cool!" A moment of silence passed over them until John's curiosity got the better of him.

"Why 'Super Good Advice'?" The gun, if at all even physically _possible_, seemed to have perked up.

"Because when we're in battle, I can give _really _great tactical information and spot enemies that you can't!" John looked over at the Guardian skeptically who actually nodded in agreement with a slight shrug that read, _Saved my life a few times even._

"Alright, you two, we're just about there. I see a place where I can drop you off, better get ready," the Ghost announced, interrupting the conversation as he flew into the room.

"Hi, Ghost!"

"Hello, Adi." The Guardian turned back to the weapons' locker and opened it once more, pulling out a white, smooth rifle with a large bayonet attached to it; facing the Spartan, the Guardian held it out towards him expectantly.

"What's this?" The Spartan looked down at the weapon, silently admiring it's design but unsure whether or not he should take the weapon.

"Thank you," the Guardian said nonchalantly, holding out the weapon a little farther.

"For what?" Silence passed over them as the Guardian seemed to mull over his words before stating simply,

"Everything." Slowly, John took the weapon, aiming down the sights appreciatively and when he looked back up, the Guardian also presented him the machine gun.

"I'm your gift, too!" Adi chirped. "He never says more than five words so I'm gonna say them for him! He's really, really grateful that you haven't left him alone and that you were willing to work with him! He likes you, you're his friend, so he wants to give you gifts because he doesn't know how else to show his gratitude! I'm your gift! I like you, too, Sierra!"

John stared at the gun before looking over at the Guardian who still held out the weapon expectantly once more. The words felt strange to hear; the Guardian, a man that the Spartan didn't know existed until a couple of months ago - or was it weeks? -, who stood valiantly by his side and without question, aiding him in his long-term mission, and turned out to quite possibly be some type of Forerunner God, was now considering him...a _friend_.

"It's an honour to have met you," John finally stated, taking the second weapon, relieved by how truthful it sounded, how it felt to say that. It certainly was warming.

"Now that we've got the ceremony out of the way," the Ghost spoke up impatiently, causing the two soldiers to face him, "you might want to bend your knees a little, the transmat tends to set you a few feet above the ground." With that said, the ship flashed around him and John bent his knees as the Ghost told him to, landing on the ground softly.

Looking around the fleshy interior, John listened as the ship sped away and back into orbit while Miranda reported,

"_Chief, I'll fallback with the survivours, take them to the Dawn._" Dropping down into a hole, they peered around the large area they fell into, cautious of the sudden silence that surrounded them."_The Arbiter will do the same with the Elites._"

"Cortana's_ in there somewhere,_" Johnson added as some kind of words of encouragement although it did little to inspire. John already had his hopes rather high in the thought of finding his lost friend.

The place was completely unrecgonisable, no longer the contouring beauty of years of architect but rather, it was now several weeks worth of rotting flesh and infection, the area filled with a retching haze that made it through the suit and nearly made the Spartan gag. He'd never get used to that stench.

But the place hadn't fallen wholly under the control of the Flood. Gothic-like structures recycled from the metal of High Charity protruded from several places in the flesh, pale green torches lit several corners of the area but rather than cast a comforting light, it seemed to have only made the place darker and eerier. Small grey and grey-green spores grew with the large, swollen spores on the walls, and they seemed to breathe as they pulsed gently. The Hive didn't fail to make High Charity their home as well.

"I've picked up a faint signal," the Ghost reported, hovering over the Guardian's shoulder while he marked a small grey rhombus as the navpoint. "Could be her, the algorithms match from when we first met and the diarchs readout wholly artificial. Worth checking out."

The pair traversed the fleshy tunnels, stepping over and on the infection spores that seemed to be running around. Coming across a small chasm, they didn't wait for the spores to grab a host and proceeded to curb stomp on the already infected bodies that were littered around; several had managed to grab one before they reached it and John used his new rifle for the first time, the bullets - upon firing - seemed to be glowing white and tore through the ligaments of the dead combat forms, downing it quickly. It had a powerful recoil but nothing John couldn't handle; it certainly fired a lot more quickly than the average assault rifle or plasma rifle, the ammo counter indicated that it had four more bullets than the assault rifle and as insignificant as those four bullets were now, John had a feeling they'd be some kind of lifesaver later on.

Reloading the weapon, the Spartan was surprised to see a new clip magnetised to his hip, 'surprising' in the sense that he never grabbed any extra clips. Dropping the current magazine in the rifle, he slowly reloaded, looking down at the empty spot and tilted his head when he saw another one appear where the first one previously was.

"The Guardian asked me to upgrade it so the weapon would automatically synthesize suitable ammo from weapons lying around because you don't have someone to synthesize the ammo for you," the Ghost explained when he noticed the Spartan staring at the ammunition. "We got the idea from abandoned schematics and Guilty Spark when we located those terminals. Also, I scavenged those sentries, everything's been useful in the long run."

"So...unlimited ammunition?" John asked as they continued on through the chasm, taking out a small swarm of infection spores and Thralls that ran after them.

"That's the idea, yes. Sometimes the ammo won't synthesize because it doesn't register the extra ammunition or weapons in your radius and because it's a work in progress, I can work out the kinks along the way. Maybe Cortana could help when we find her." When. John took note of the fact that Ghost had said 'when' and not 'if'. That, in itself, was a kind of relief for the Spartan; he wasn't the only one who knew that they would find her. Cortana couldn't leave him _that _easily.

Passing through the fleshy barrier that led deeper into High Charity, John groaned when a massive wave of pain hit his head and his vision narrowed, shuddering violently as the Gravemind rumbled,

"_Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness but for the sins cast to his son._" As his vision faded back into normalcy, he looked over at the Guardian to see the man's head bowed although it seemed to be that his own vision had passed. Was it this so-called Darkness the Ghost spoke of often? The Hive?

Jumping down a loud hatch clearly of Hive-make, they hit the fleshy ground with a wet thud just as John's sight went dim once more but it wasn't the Gravemind that wasn't invading. This time, it was Her. She was crying into Her hands, having sunk to the ground on Her knees, whimpering in pain. It _hurt _to see Her like that, to see that She was pushed to a limit, to a point where She was actually able to _feel _it.

He gripped his rifle a little tighter at the thought, grimacing as he marched forward with renewed energy. That son of a bitch Gravemind was going to _pay _for torturing Her like that.

A loud shriek pierced the still, infectious air and Acolytes appeared with Flood combat forms and pure forms scuttling around, heading towards them at an alarming rate. John pulled out Adi who proceeded to trill in joy just as the Spartan unleashed it's bulleted glory all over the undead enemies.

The Guardian had taken to climbing one of the fleshy pillars, taking out pure forms before they could fully transform, and any Acolytes that carried the dangerously explosive weapons with the rifle that had the bird skull on it.

"On your left!" Adi shrieked and the Spartan turned, rolling to the side just in time to dodge a ground shuddering punch from an incoming Tank form.

"Oh my shit, what is that _thing_?!" John didn't answer it as he fired the entire belt on the Tank form, dodging around it when it tried to bodily swing itself at him, and occasionally, he turned to take down approaching Thralls and combat forms.

"I've found a flamethrower, highlighting it on your HUD now!"

Through a fleshy wall, a yellow outline appeared. Following it, John found that it led outside on a small platform where a Pelican had crashed, bodies littering the area; pushing off the corpse of a Marine, he picked up the highlighted weapon and turned to face a horde of Thralls and a trio of Tanks that came crashing through the Gothic pillars, lighting them up with the hungry flames that lapped at them incessantly. He beat them back, stepping over the smouldering corpses and entering the city once more with a crown of flames adorning those who got too close.

As the battle came down from the climax, the two soldiers wandered around, smashing any corpses that remained intact so that they couldn't play host to any infection forms that scuttled around, trying to give twisted life to them.

Creeping upwards, through a narrow tunnel, they entered through another section of the ship only to be stopped by the mental presence of the Gravemind once more, teasing the Spartan as the realisation of his mission finally dawned on it.

"_Of **course **you came for **Her**. We exist **together** now. Two corpses in one grave._" They continued on, refusing to relent to the words when Cortana's voice began echoing around them in a sickly sweet voice.

"_Immaculate lies, that's all I am,_" She groaned. "_Stolen thoughts and memories._" The Gravemind taunted relentlessly, his words were mumbled but what would have been a low rumble of laughter turned into Cortana's maniacal cackling before fading into the deep recesses of High Charity.

The pair remained deathly silent as they continued deeper into the abandoned city, refusing to either disturb the restless infection or to avoid talking about what invaded their minds, John knew it was one of the two.

Jumping through what would have been a lift, they landed on the floor below, it looked vaguely familiar to the Spartan despite being over run by spores and dark, Gothic structures. It was lit by the dim green fires, casting a mournful glow around the room and highlighting silhouettes of combat forms, scattered around the room, John could spot the small, pale green shimmers of the Hive's eyes.

As they battled against the Flood and Hive, John was quite sure that he could hear Cortana rambling to Herself but the sound of battle was too loud for him to properly make sense of what she was saying. He figured that they must be getting close and it renewed his vigor to find her once more as he threw a Brute Shot at a Tank form, the blade slicing neatly through the infected creature.

"_You like games! So do I._" It's what he managed to hear as the Flood and Hive dwindled and he knew that it wasn't Cortana speaking but rather Doctor Halsey. He remembered all those years ago when he first met her, when she showed him that old disk, testing his luck. Her tone was always so different from Cortana, more maternal and stern, and he knew that Cortana was sifting through Her memories now.

Ascending out of the room, he heard Cortana cry out,

"_I'm just a **shadow**! Don't look at me! Don't look at me! I'm not real!_"

Pure forms blocked their path, consistently changing between Stalkers and Tanks, scuttling away from them at the last moment when they were deemed to have gotten too close. Spikes attempted to pierce their shields and long hardy limbs attempted to bash in their armour but to no avail.

The Gravemind returned when they finished the small fight, it's anger was evident but did little to rock their demeanour or courage.

"_Time has taught me patience!_" It roared, "_I am asking for a new freedom! I will know all that I **POSSESS**!_"

The Guardian scoffed quietly next to him as they entered a large area filled with multiple floors; the Spartan speculated that this was probably the centre of the city where the main lift would be. Peering over the edge, John jumped back when a stream of violet energy flew up to meet him, brushing against his shields momentarily.

"That's a Hallowed Ogre down there!" Adi chirped helpfully, speaking up for the first time in a long while. "I recommend burning it or using some kind of elemental in general to damage it; it'll die a lot quicker that way!" As the AI gun said this, the Guardian threw down his bolt grenade, relishing in the angered cries that came up from below.

Carefully peering over the edge this time, John speculated the giant creature; it had armour reminiscent of the usual Hive wear that he was getting used to seeing now, it didn't have any eyes, rather, it's head looked rather swollen with small orbs pulsating softly beneath it. When it roared and fired the violet beam once more, it came from it's head and John leaned back once more to avoid it before throwing down a pair of incendiary grenades he had swiped off a couple of dead Brute Stalkers.

As it roared in pain, John leaned over once more, using Adi to give additional damage to it; the Guardian joined in with his revolver, the Ogre lighting up with green whenever the bullets struck it and it eventually disintegrated with a fading roar, one last bolt of violet energy flying to meet them but was easily avoided.

Sweeping the rest of the area of Hive, they exited the large area into one of the corridors that was connected to it with a flesh-like door. They walked through the dim hallways, poised for any more threats that dared to try and ambush them.

"_I have dared to walk to the edge of the abyss!_" Cortana cried suddenly, Her voice heavily distorted, Her face flashing in front of the Spartan's face. He recognised the vision as when She sent the message of the Ark to him. "_I have seen the future and I have **burned**!_"

"**_SUBMIT_**_!_" The Gravemind invaded with an angered bellow. "_Enter tormented minds and of my own!_"

It was getting impatient, furious at their progress, and doing everything it could to break one of their minds. The only reaction it really elicited was a grumble from the Guardian and a hidden scowl from the Spartan as they continued on, splashing through some coolant as they veered off the path and into Flood-made halls instead.

They entered another impossibly large room but this time, John recognised it as one of the engine rooms that had managed to keep the city abroad in space. Or what was left of it, there were only several delicate bridges connected to various ends of the enormous room, the rest had suffered under the weight of the Flood and the Hive infestation. A loud whine filled the room, echoing eerily, and the pair watched as one of the pistons eventually exploded, having overheated.

They sprinted across the bridges when the Ghost pointed out that they were getting relatively close to Cortana's position, avoiding the Flood and The Hive alike. There was nothing more important than this now.

Entering the only door that was unlocked, Cortana appeared once more but Her voice was heavily distorted to the point it was unrecognisable and incoherent but it was soon taken over by an angry Gravemind who growled out, "_You **will **show me what She **hides**! For I shall feast upon your **bones**!_" John bit back words of retaliation, letting the Guardian snarl angrily at the voice as it retreated once more while they entered where the navpoint ended, revealing a small, cramped room ignited by a single holotank, a shield having been formed around it.

The Ghost flew forward as the Guardian and Spartan surrounded the tank. John punched in the stasis shield that blocked his way from the AI and stared down at it while the Ghost took several scans.

"Where is she?" He snapped, seeing that all that was there was a small, cerulean crystal. "You said she was here!"

"And she is!" The Ghost replied just as harshly. "But she's not _here_, not in this _world_. She activated some kind of failsafe and it transported her elsewhere. Hold still." The AI flew up to the Spartan, scanning his head while whistling in understanding. "_I _see. She's activated some kind of hidden neural network that's been dormant in your brain and hid in there. How she managed to wake it up without proper protocols or procedures or even manage to reach you from such a distance is unknown to me."

"'Neural network'?"

"The neural network is a type of neural science that Guardians and their Ghosts use to stay in contact with each other as well as with other Guardians or creatures of the Light. It's also how the Guardians don't die. When they do, they're transported into a world between life and death conjured by the neural sciences and the Light itself and they have to find their Ghost, their Light, in order to be revived. We call it the Other side and that's where Cortana is."

"How do we get in there?" Ghost hesitated momentarily, eye flickering for a moment before he began slowly,

"I could have my Guardian enter the Other side by removing himself but I don't know how you could enter. I could attempt to integrate your neural network with Cortana's and then transfer it into the Other side; it won't make you a creature of the Light but it does mean that you could, essentially, have the ability to be revived if killed as well but it'll only work when we find Cortana."

"If it doesn't work?"

"You'll die. The Guardian could get Cortana out but the process will have made you permanently brain-dead." John was silent for a moment, looking over at the crystal that was supposedly Cortana before looking over at the Guardian.

"If I don't make it out, you take care of Cortana, you understand?" He eventually asked in a dangerously low voice.

"I understand," the Guardian rumbled, taking out his black magnum once more.

"So you'll attempt the integration process?" Ghost asked with a low whistle.

"If it'll get me Cortana, I'll do it."

"Alright then." Ghost looked over at the Guardian. "You go on ahead and enter the Other side, wait for us at the Conflux, and tell Ephesians what we're doing."

The Guardian nodded and put the sidearm underneath his chin where his lower jaw hollowed out and unceremoniously pulled the trigger, making John flinch slightly at the sudden, frighteningly smooth movement; bright white fluid escaped him as his head jerked violently and he fell on to his side with a thud, weapon clattering to the floor as the white, glowing blood pooled around him, coating the Spartan's boots.

John's eyes were wide behind his helmet: the Guardian was completely _willing _to commit suicide to enter this Other side, the amount of trust that he had in his Ghost was insurmountable, completely _insane_. The fact that the Guardian had done it because he wanted to help find Cortana made John almost shiver at the thought. This man was sacrificial and didn't hesitate to remind people of that fact.

"Please hold still, close your eyes, and clear your mind," the Ghost ordered, turning to John as if nothing had happened. His nonchalant attitude at the fact that his Guardian just _committed suicide _was the most disturbing and unnerving thing the Spartan had ever witnessed to date, how many times have they done this?

Nonetheless, the Spartan obeyed the AI, closing his eyes and waited patiently to be transferred. Around him, he listened intently but couldn't necessarily hear anything, the sounds became muted, muffled, and unclear. Then they disappeared entirely. A sense of peacefulness overwhelmed his being and he felt weightless as if he were in zero-gee but it felt more...calming and gentle. A chill wind seemed to bypass his armour and he shivered underneath it momentarily as gentle chiming entered his hearing, it echoed around the area quietly.

"_You can open your eyes now,_" an unfamiliar voice said and he did so slowly. Looking around, he noticed he was in some kind of spacious, stone temple. It looked ancient and his vision seemed to have adopted some kind of grey-blue and teal colour. He took a step back and nearly fell off an edge and into a glowing white abyss below.

"_Careful now! I know, this place can be a little disorienting what with being out of space and time,_" the voice stated cheerfully. Looking around, his gaze met a pair of glowing golden eyes which were a part of a dark purple android who wore a bright aqua robe, the collar flaring up and covering a large portion of their face, and seemed to be wearing bone armour that looked startlingly similar to the Hive.

"_You all good? Good!_" They stated in a bright, synthesized voice as a helmet made out of bone formed around their face. "_We didn't get introduced properly because I was a vague outline in the real world the first and last time we met._" The android held out a hand in a warm greeting.

"_Hello there, my name is Ephesians-44, I'm an Exo Warlock Guardian! Welcome to the Other side, Master Chief, the land between life and death! I'll be your kind of dead guide for this particular journey!_"

"_Where's the other Guardian?_" John asked gruffly as he met the Exo's hand with a firm handshake.

"_Callixtus is hanging out by the Conflux,_" the new Guardian jerked a thumb over their shoulder, pointing at a large stone-metal pillar that levitated in the centre of the area. Sitting near the base of it was the Guardian - Callixtus was apparently his name.

John approached the Guardian slowly although he made sure his presence was known; he stood behind him, quietly admiring the power that seemed to resonate from the device.

"_It did not alarm you, did it?_" the Guardian asked suddenly, his voice resonating throughout the area, gravelly and low.

"_You committing suicide? Yes._" A low laugh vibrated the air as the Guardian got to his feet.

"_I do not do it often, I promise._" Walking over to the Spartan, the Guardian patted his shoulder lightly before holding out a hand and saying, "_Now that I can properly speak, I ought to reintroduce myself. Titan Guardian Callixtus, Time's Conflux. It has been an honour to work by your side, Spartan._"

"_I'm glad you joined us. W__hat stopped you from talking before?_" John couldn't help but ask, giving him a proper nod as he gave another firm handshake.

"_I was tasked with taking down a Hive General named Omnigul and she caught my throat. Hurts to speak but I can get a word out here and there when I am alive._" A moment of silence passed and then the Guardian-no, Callixtus began to walk towards Ephesians. "_Come now, let us find Cortana, Spartan._"

John paused for a moment, lagging behind Callixtus before choosing to say,

"_I'm glad you'll help. Also, friends of mine call me John._"

* * *

><p><em>AN: They're besties now, hooray. Aha but yeah, I just threw a lot of things at you guys in this chapter and there will be a lot more coming in the next one._

_I've also decided that if you want to ask me any questions, I prefer that you do it through the Tumblr I set up._

_Other than that, if you have any comments, feel free to leave a review, PM me, or send an ask._

_Thanks for reading._


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